


The Sacrifice

by Straya



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Biting, Blow Jobs, Character Death, Cunnilingus, F/M, Foreplay, Hellion/Human Sex, Large Cock, Light Bondage, Multiple Orgasms, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Scratching, Size Difference, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2020-10-26 19:50:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 44,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20747798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straya/pseuds/Straya
Summary: Adopted and raised by a merchant named Brad in the town of Marlind, Rose wasn't what anyone would have called a normal child. Found wandering a battlefield by mercenaries at the age of five, she had a tendency to speak of spirits and imaginary friends during her childhood and adolescent years. As the townspeople became ever less accepting of Rose as she grew older, Brad moved their small family and business to Lastonbell to start over.This was the end of the life Rose had known for several years.When she is kidnapped by dragon worshipping cultists and delivered up as a sacrifice to improve the town's failing fortune, will she find solace and companionship in an unlikely place? And what path is open to her now that her old life is no more?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm sure at least a few of you who follow what I do here are looking at this and thinking, "God, Straya? ANOTHER ONE?"
> 
> Yes, another one. I've unfortunately turned into one of those people who has several different AU ideas for their favored OTP and this has translated to me working on multiple multichapter fics at once. Also, I know I'm overdue on posting a new chapter for "Resonance Unblocked", but that is in the works! It's just been something of a slow process as of late and seeing as how a large portion of this fic (and my other AU "Clarity") are already complete, it's easier to post what I have already done to sort of fill in the gaps while I get the next chapter of RU figured out.
> 
> As for this fic... It's likely the most self-indulgent one I've written AND decided share. Full disclosure: I originally started writing this fic with the intention of centering it around monster fucking. Or hellion fucking, however you'd like to put it. It evolved into something more over time because apparently I can't write much of anything AU related without getting into all the backstory and angst and banter and such that I usually like to include with my more lengthy works. Regardless, however, there will still be A LOT of monster fucking going on here so this is a fic that is definitely going to earn its explicit rating. I wrote this mostly with my own wants in mind and only decided to share it with the idea that maybe someone else out there might like it, as well. That said, if you've gotten past AO3s "explicit fic/NSFW" warnings, checked all the tags, read this entire note and still want to proceed, I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Rose had always been a peculiar child, not that she understood that until she made her way out of her younger years and into adolescence. It was then that her adoptive father, Brad, a local merchant in the humble town of Marlind, had sat her down to explain to her that she really needed to stop speaking to her imaginary friends and scaring the other children with stories about invisible people and animals. Of course, Rose had done her best to protest her father's lectures, seeing as how he had taught her at an even younger age that fibbing was rarely appropriate. But Brad had dug his heels in on the matter and, as Rose loved him dearly, she had agreed that there would be no more stories about talking dogs and people that no one else could seem to see or hear.

Still, it seemed that Rose's odd behavior eventually caused the pair to wear out their welcome in Marlind. Years of rumors, cautious side glances from neighbors and a downturn in Brad's sales as a merchant urged them to pack up shop and go elsewhere for what they hoped was a better life.

That was how they'd ended up in Lastonbell, in an entirely different country, to start all over again.

Rose was seventeen when they reopened their business in the City of Artisans, a seemingly good place for a fresh start. Unfortunately, however, despite finding a decent location for their Sparrowfeathers General Store within the town walls, the pair of them living in the cozy space above it, life itself was not keen on granting them a second opportunity for success.

Rumors eventually followed the father and daughter pair from Marlind. Stories about how Rose saw and spoke to spirits, and how perhaps that was connected to her questionable past. She had no memory of it and only knew about where she came from thanks to Brad's explanations once she'd been old enough; apparently, Rose had been found wandering a bloody battlefield in Glaivend Basin when she was only five years old. Some mercenary friends of Brad's had been passing through and picked her up, bringing her to Marlind in the hopes she had relatives there who would take her in and care for her. But no one had claimed her and none had agreed to adopt her, not when they'd gotten a good look at her haunted blue eyes and the many scrapes across her body. Covered in blood was how the caravan had found her, her pockets bulging with trinkets and knickknacks she'd pilfered from the corpses littering the field. She'd been carrying a small knife in one hand, though she'd dropped it and started crying as soon as someone approached her.

“The Blood Orphan”, many had nicknamed her. 

“Rose” was what Brad had called her when he alone had decided to take her in. A flowering, crimson death bloom.

Perhaps it was trauma that caused her to keep such odd habits as a child. That's what some of the rumors liked to convey, anyway. She'd seen too much death. Too much blood. She coped with the tragedy by conjuring up imaginary friends.

But the nice blonde-haired man who lived in the Great Tree in Marlind was not imaginary, Rose had often argued. 

Still, she had stopped visiting him as she got older. Stopped talking about him. Eventually, she stopped seeing him. “Rohan” was never there to begin with, people told her, but Rose believed he'd grown lonely and gone elsewhere. Not that she would ever know for sure, seeing as how Marlind was no longer her home.

In terms of business, the first year in Lastonbell was somewhat difficult, if just because Brad and Rose needed time to re-establish themselves. Business would be better their second year there, Brad often said and Rose believed him. It made sense, didn't it?

But soon enough the familiar and unsettling side glances from neighbors and even customers returned. People would hesitate in handing their gald directly to Rose for a purchase as if they were worried she might bite and claim one of their fingers along with their money. Rumors circulated here and there about town, about the strange girl who ran the new general store with her father. About how she alone had somehow survived a massacre between two armies in the basin. She should have died, they said. The supernatural favored her in odd ways, they said. Though where blood was involved, there could be nothing truly good.

And that was how Lastonbell's foul luck came to be blamed on a single teenage girl. As farms experienced crop failures outside the town, as murders began to plague the town community within the walls, as whispers about monsters in Volgran Forest circulated, some people required a scapegoat. These problems had not existed before this weird girl came to live among them, after all.

Once more, Rose found herself attempting to keep a low profile. She stopped working regular hours in the store, forcing Brad to hire someone to take her place. She stayed inside far too much, as her temper tempted her to argue with every accuser who came by to throw verbal insults at her father. It seemed as though they might need to move again. Perhaps an out of the way town like Lohgrin might be best.

But about a month following her nineteenth birthday, all hopes for a third start were dashed against the rocks.

* * *

The pounding against the general storefront door roused Rose from her slumber, the sudden shout that followed jolting her fully awake. Getting up out of bed, Rose padded across the cold wooden floor to the door of her small room, pulling it open just in time to see Brad on the other side, pulling on his coat as he prepared to descend to the first floor.

“Dad? What's going on?” She couldn't quite keep the worried quaver out of her voice.

“Nothing to worry about. Just go back to bed, Rose,” Brad replied as he checked his belt for his knife and sheath. “I'll take care of this and be back in bed in a few minutes, myself.”

Rose gripped the edge of the door a fraction tighter, her heart thumping its way up into her throat. There was more shouting from outside. Cursing and name-calling from multiple voices. “Maybe you shouldn't go downstairs. They sound really pissed...”

“Rose.” Brad gave her a hard look as he stopped at the top of the stairs. “Bed. Now. And keep your door shut and locked.”

“But–“

“_Rose._”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Rose nodded and stepped back into her room, pulling the door shut in her wake. As the lock clicked into place, she could hear her father heading down to the store, his heavy boots thumping against the wooden stairs. She leaned against her bedroom door, listening and waiting. 

Down below, the front door opened. Angry voices rang out, one of which belonged to Brad, but Rose couldn't entirely make out what was being said. An insult here, a threat there. Yet, despite her inability to hear exactly what was going on, Rose knew the reason there were men on their doorstep.

It had to be about her. She was always the cause of unrest.

Brad slammed the front door shut. A second later, the sound of shattering glass followed and something heavy slammed into the floor. Rose crouched down, eyes wide, a shiver running through her. They'd broken the storefront window somehow. Boots were hitting the floor now and there were more enraged cries. Rose could hear Brad among them, screaming at the invaders to get out of their home and off their property. 

Then, suddenly, his voice was gone, drowned out by the sounds of multiple feet pounding against the stairs as they charged up to the second floor. In a panic, Rose ran to the only window in the room – a small glass pane on the opposite wall that faced a narrow alleyway – and forced it open. She would barely be able to fit out of it, but she had to try. If she stayed in her room–

The handle on the door rattled violently and a fist pounded against the outside of it. 

“You in there, you cursed brat? Open the damn door!”

Fear gripped Rose as she struggled to wriggle out the small window, grasping in desperation about the outside of it for something, _anything_ to grab hold of to support herself. If she fell, it was likely she'd break one or more limbs and would be unable to escape. 

“Is she in there or not?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Break the godsdammed door down! If she is, she's gonna get away!”

“Shut up and send someone around back! There might be a window she can escape out of!”

“Stupid bitch, if catching her doesn't work...”

There was a small ledge above the window to match the one below it. Rose panted in fear, trying to hurriedly turn herself in the right direction, one hand flailing about as she sought to seize it. As her fingers closed over the painted wood, she pushed against it and kicked her legs, squirming against the window frame. She was running out of time.

Something heavy struck her bedroom door from the other side. Rose froze, blood running cold in her veins. The door creaked in protest as it was struck a second time.

“Hey, there she is! She's trying to get out through that window!”

The shout below tore Rose's attention from the assault on her room. Down in the alleyway were two men, one of whom was nocking an arrow a bowstring.

“You fucking idiot, you can't kill her!” the other men snarled. “We're not supposed to bring them a corpse!”

“Do you want her to escape or what? I'm only going to shoot her through one arm, moron!”

The makeshift battering ram crashed into the door again. This time, the sound came with the splintering of wood. 

“If you do that, she'll fall and die!”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Rose was hyperventilating. The world felt like it was spinning beneath her. There was nowhere left to go. As the man with the bow lifted his weapon to fire on her, drawing the bowstring back, Rose panicked and wormed her way back inside again. It was as her bare feet hit the floor that the battering ram struck her bedroom door a fourth time...and this time it exploded inward.

Her father's small dresser hit the floor  
as it was dropped, the top of it damaged beyond repair. The intruders swarmed in, brandishing knives, short swords, and makeshift clubs. Rose cringed back against the wall beneath the window in terror but had little time to even so much as scream before rough hands seized her and dragged her from the room. She kicked and cried out as she was hauled down the stairs, not caring about how her nightgown was drawn back as a result, exposing her. It was only when she caught sight of the body lying near the front door that Rose finally ceased her struggle.

“Dad...?” The invaders were carrying her outside, away from his still and bloodied form, the knife used to kill him still buried in his chest. “Dad! _DAD, NO!_”

A hand emerged from the mass of limbs manhandling her and shoved a dirty rag into her mouth to silence her. Ropes followed in short, but messy order, binding her arms to her sides and tying her ankles together. She was then tossed into the back of a covered wagon, two armed men climbing in with her while another hurried to the front to climb into the bench and take the reins. In the confusion, Rose could not make out any familiar faces, not between her tears, the darkness and the shuffle of bodies over and around her. Then again, she wasn't sure she wanted to know if there was anyone present who had given her father's shop their business. If there was anyone there who had once greeted her with a smile and had now made themselves and accessory to her father's murder. She already ached with the need to cry out in grief and rage, and she was not certain her heart could bear anything more.

As the wagon began to move, the cold clip-clop of horse hooves against the cobblestone carrying it down the road toward the gates facing Volgran Forest, Rose shut her eyes and turned her head toward the smelly floorboards to at least half hide her tear-stained face. Her captors said nothing, sitting in silence as they exited the town, and Rose was unable to question them even if she'd wanted to at all.

Waiting was all she could do. Waiting and grieving.

* * *

The only publicly religious building in Lastonbell was its small church, dedicated to the worship of the heavenly hosts said to be watching all of humanity from somewhere in the great spiritual beyond. Seraphim, they were called. Invisible to the human eye, but responsible for blessing the land and bringing favorable luck. The church's following had once been great but had unfortunately dwindled somewhat over the years. People didn't believe like they once did, especially given the losses in years past to famine and war.

The church had competition in the form of a few cults that had managed to remain rooted within society here and there, as well. One of such cults was a particularly old one, dating back many hundred years to a time when dragon worship was popular. In some ways, such worship still was readily accepted as people tended to easily revere what they could see and hear for themselves, and no stronger beasts were living in Glenwood than the dragons. The huge, fire breathing lizards were like forces of nature, able to destroy entire towns. Sometimes, to appease them, sacrifices needed to be made, such as cattle left out in areas where the great beasts hunted. It kept them away from towns and farms. But many believed that the dragons had a connection to the supernatural and that, once in a while, a few cows were not enough to sate their needs.

For this reason, the Tintagel Temple existed. It was an old site, not well maintained, but still active during crucial times of the years, such as during the spring and winter solstices. Located deep within Volgran Forest, it was not the sort of place one went alone. The cult forbade trespassers outside of ritual gatherings and claimed that breaking that rule would bring down the wrath of their gods.

The temple was also not a place that Rose and Brad had been aware of when they chose Lastonbell as their new home. Had they known about it and the dedicated following within the town, they might have gone elsewhere. A thought that Rose could not help but have as she was taken roughly from the wagon that delivered her there and turned over to several people dressed in dark robes, their hoods pulled up over their heads to hide their faces in shadow.

The journey there had taken a few days and, during that time, Rose had only been given enough food and water to keep her from growing too weak to walk. She was still in her nightgown, the thin garment filthy and torn, shivering in the chill night air as she was shoved out in front of the robed gathering. Though she was exhausted and cold, Rose did her best to look upon the lot of them with nothing but contempt. Fear did clutch at her chest, squeezing like a vice, but so also did anger and hatred writhe in her belly. 

“Do you know why you are here, child?” one man in a robe asked, his voice deep, flat and without much emotion.

“Because you people are sick assholes who kidnap women in the middle of the night and kill the only family they have?” Rose spat, blue eyes narrowing, her lips pulled back in a scowl. 

“Because you are an abomination,” the man, possibly the head priest, stated without a change in intonation. “You, who crawled bloodstained from a battlefield as the only survivor, who have claimed in the past to have connections to spirits, are a curse. You caused unrest in Marlind and have now brought a blight upon Lastonbell. Failing crops, murderers in our alleyways, sick and dying animals.”

“So you thought killing an innocent man and taking his daughter was the solution!? Fuck you! I don't have a damn thing to do with all your problems and anything you do to me isn't going to anything to fucking fix it!” Rose roared back, tears springing unbidden to her eyes in rage. “_All of you can burn in hell!_”

The silence that followed Rose's outburst was unnerving. All of them, robed or not, did nothing but glare coldly at her. The only interruption came when another robed figure arrived, skirting around the main group with his hands tucked into his sleeves so he could speak the priest.

“All is ready, as you ordered.”

“Good.” The priest lifted one hand, gesturing at the men behind Rose. “Bring her. She has a purpose to fulfill.”

One of the two men behind Rose shoved her, forcing her to stumble forward. Then the group was moving, the escort following the cultists as they approached the temple entrance.

Rose shivered as she walked barefoot over the damp ground, her tattered nightgown catching on bushes and brambles. Though she was afraid to look beyond the backs of the robed figures before her, she forced her gaze upward to the temple where it rose against the velvet night sky, a stark shadow edged in moonlight. Its large stones were covered in moss and vines in some places with cracks marring its walls. Near the entrance, two torches burned, set in recently installed scones against the temple door frame, which was set behind a pair of massive pillars. Alongside both stood two more people garbed in the same dark robes. As the procession passed, their shadowed faces turned toward Rose, but she could not make out any features beyond dull whites of two pairs of eyes. Taking up the torches, they joined the march, one taking up the rear and the other moving to the front to light the way.

Into the depths of the temple they went, descending a long flight of stone stairs. When they reached the bottom, the procession followed a semi-circular pathway until they encountered another long set of stairs, this one heading upward.

As they walked, Rose couldn't help but notice that the two men guarding her were trembling, the hand of one of them shaking where it gripped her shoulder to keep her moving. In a way, she supposed she couldn't blame them. The temple was dark, cold, unlit and unwelcoming. Yet there was something else about it, something dark that seemed to press in from all sides and fill Rose with a sense of dread. Like a fog, thin enough to breathe, but thick and wet enough to make the lungs feel heavy.

“You...you're sure about this?” one of the men finally asked, his gruff voice sounding a note higher than it may have normally been. “That this girl is all we need? It won't take the rest of us?”

“Remain faithful,” the priest said from the front of the procession, voice clear and carrying a hint of command with it. “The power that has overtaken this temple is hungry and needs to be sated. If we feed this cursed girl to it, it will remove the blight from our land as it consumes her. If we do not, she will eventually bring down the wrath of dragons.”

Rose swallowed thickly, a shiver running up the length of her spine. That...had to be a bunch of bullshit, didn't it? While she had never seen a dragon before, she had heard stories here and there. Many people accepted that the huge, ravenous creatures existed based on eyewitness accounts, but they weren't often seen. The idea that something was inhabiting the temple also sounded like some sort of bedtime story to scare children with, but the further they went, the heavier the air felt. 

At the top of the stairs, the procession crossed a makeshift wooden plank bridge in single file. Rose chanced a glance down as she made her way over and felt her heart drop down into her stomach when she realized she could not see the bottom. As they entered another long corridor that ran both directions, they turned left and crossed more plank bridges between sets of horizontal stone pathways. The wood shuddered and creaked beneath Rose's feet as she walked, leaving a sick feeling in her gut. Wherever these awful people chose to leave her, even if they did not kill her before departing, they would likely pull some of these bridges back in their wake to make sure she could not escape. 

Finally, they reached a large room with only one door –  
the one leading inside. It was roughly half-circle shaped with a high ceiling and in the center sat an altar. In the firelight, its flickering illumination increased as the two torchbearers lit two more torches set into the walls, the altar appeared newer than the rest of the temple, possibly something installed within just the last century or so. No matter its age, however, its overall size and shape indicated that it was meant to leave offerings upon.

“Put her on the altar,” the priest ordered and eager hands seized Rose by her limbs and hauled her up onto the stone surface. “Bind her legs.”

“You won't get away with this!” Rose shrieked, kicking out with both legs in a last-ditch attempt to keep them from trying her fast. “The knights! The knights will find out what you've done!”

The priest chuckled darkly where he stood next to one of the torchbearers. “Many of the knights are Dragonists, as well. And why would they leap to the aid of two people who have brought such unrest to our good community? Once you are taken, girl, and the good fortune is restored to Lastonbell, you will be forgotten.”

Rose stilled as realization struck, allowing her captors to pull rough ropes around her legs and over her body, tying her to the altar; the priest was right. Even if the knights cared enough to investigate the situation back at the shop, it would be too late. Her father was already dead and even if there wasn't some evil presence in the temple to consume her, it would only take Rose a short while to die of thirst. 

As the mob of robbed figures stepped away, the priest came forward to stand behind the altar. Spreading his hands wide, he began to speak in what Rose could only assume was the ancient tongue, a prayer of invocation, perhaps. Words meant to draw out the presence within the temple and inform it that its servants had brought forth an offering. For as long as he droned on, however, Rose tuned him out quickly enough, her thoughts already turning toward escape. If that was even possible. She would have to find a way to wriggle out of the ropes and then cross the gaps between the stone walkways outside the room. How would she manage that? Perhaps if there was something to fix a length of rope to...

“It is done.” The priest lowered his hands and bowed his head once before walking out from behind the altar. 

The entire rest of the group murmured a final word in the ancient tongue as if to add their agreement and endorsement of the offering and prayer. Attention snapping back to the many robed individuals around her, Rose watched with wide eyes as they all turned to depart, the two torchbearers taking up their previous places in line.

“Remove the bridges as we depart,” she heard the priest order as they began to cross back over to the other side of the sectioned corridor. “The entity here will have no need of them.”

“You can't leave me in here, you bastards!” Rose screamed after them. “This isn't going to solve anything! In fact, I hope it actually makes things worse for you, do you hear me?! I hope the rest of your lives are nothing but _misery!_”

No one said anything back. Slowly, the torchlight grew fainter and then finally disappeared completely as the group reached the end of the sectioned corridor and vanished down the stairs.

A heavy silence settled over the room and the dark space beyond it, broken only by Rose's breathing, which was becoming more frantic by the moment. Chest heaving in desperation, she tugged at her restraints, rocking from side to side on the altar, hoping against hope that something, somewhere would come loose. She bent her knees as much as she was able, wriggling against the ropes around her ankles. Yet, as tears began to flow anew, she found that she was not making any headway. If anything, all several minutes spent struggling seemed to do was hurt her, the ropes rubbing her skin raw. 

Still, Rose refused to give up. She rested and struggled in intervals, preferring to think that if she ended up dying of dehydration, at least it would not have been without a fight. But as time wore on, it became clear that even if she did manage to escape her bonds, she would have no way to see where she was going once she left the room; the torches were burning down, their light growing ever dimmer.

Finally, as Rose lay resting against the altar, her back aching, her muscles burning and her flesh bleeding where the ropes had cut into her, she realized she was out of time. There was hardly any light remaining. As one torch dimmed to nothing but glowing embers, the other one only a few minutes from following its lead, Rose broke down into shuddering sobs of despair. This was it. She was going to die in the dark, lost, alone and forgotten. 

Then, as the last of the light faded away into darkness, she saw it through it her tears: movement in the corridor beyond the entrance to the room.

Rose stilled, terror taking her up in its icy grip. Eyes wide in the darkness, she watched what she could see of it. Something moving, something larger than a human. It traversed the sections between the stone walkways with ease, hopping over them and moving on all fours. Dark wings were attached to its back, opening and then folding down again as it used them to help balance itself with each leap.

Swallowing hard, Rose resisted the urge to scream. She wouldn't give this thing, whatever it was, the pleasure of knowing that it had driven a spike of cold fear right through her middle before killing her. That urge became almost overwhelmingly difficult as the creature entered the room, however, creeping toward the altar and then around to one side of it, sniffing the musty air before growling quietly.

Rose's breath caught and she held it, tears sliding down the sides of her face as the thing got up on its hind legs and braced its front paws, hands, whatever it had against the altar and hopped up onto it. The dark, gargoyle-like silhouette of it invaded Rose's limited vision, blotting out the rest of the room with far too much ease. Leaning down, it sniffed at her, breath hot against the skin of her sweat-soaked neck.

“...make it quick.” The words were barely there, breathed out in a small, trembling voice as Rose closed her eyes tightly. “Better this than dying of thirst. And at least I can see my dad again.”

The creature snorted softly. Then, suddenly, it was tearing at the ropes holding Rose to the altar. Rose braced herself, expecting to feel her flesh being ripped into at any moment. The pain would be hot and unbearable. She wouldn't be able to hold in her screams any longer. She would die crying while the beast ate her up, bit by bit. 

Yet those sharp claws never found her. Instead, Rose was lifted from the altar and tossed over one of the creature's shoulders like a sack of potatoes. She grunted in surprise, then finally shrieked as the beast turned and bounded out of the room and back into the corridor to leap over the gaps. She could only guess that the creature wasn't keen on devouring her on the altar and instead wanted to take her back to wherever it had made its lair within the temple. Whether that was the reason or not, however, the bumpy ride was doing Rose no favors.

Already weak from lack of food and water, and tired from struggling against the ropes on the altar, Rose felt dizziness seep in a few moments before she simply passed out. The last thing she heard before everything went completely dark was the sound of a stone door being rolled open. Then she was out, lost in blessed unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose awakens in another part of the temple to find herself in an unusual situation. As it turns out, the monster that took her from the altar isn't quite what she thought, originally, but getting answers as to what her current situation entails proves somewhat difficult...

Rose never expected to wake up again. Her last thought as she'd lost consciousness had been that at least she wouldn't experience any more pain. The beast that had taken her from the altar would return to his lair and swallow her up there before she woke. For that, she had managed a second's worth of gratitude for the reprieve.

When Rose awoke hours later, laying on a rumpled pile of cloth in complete darkness, her breath had caught in immediate surprise and fear. Why was she still alive? Where was she? Where was the creature? For several seconds, she lay completely still, listening and hardly daring to breathe. Slowly, her eyes adjusted as well as they could to the darkness, revealing a large shape laying on the ground across the room from her. If she focused and turned her head just right, she could hear the sound of deep, even breathing.

The creature. It was sleeping hardly ten feet from where she lay.

Though questions still whirled about in her mind, especially those about why she wasn't dead yet, fear ultimately dominated her thoughts. Regardless of why she was still alive, she needed to take the opportunity to escape. Or to make the attempt, anyway. How far she would get without even a dim source of light was negligible, especially given how many pits and drops the temple contained. But...she had to try.

Slowly, carefully, Rose pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. Feeling along the floor, she was able to make her way to the edge of the pile of cloth she'd been left upon, woven material eventually giving way to cold stone. Keeping the beast behind her and to her left, Rose crawled with all care toward what she assumed was the entrance to the small room, able to feel a very slight shift in the air. A draft? Maybe. If so, it meant air from the outside might be getting in somehow and, if Rose could locate the source, it might mean escape from her damnable stone prison.

Halfway out the door, Rose heard something behind her and froze, rooted to the spot. She half expected a large, clawed hand to seize her by the ankle and drag her screaming back at any moment, but the only sound was that of the creature shifting slightly in its sleep, sighing heavily and continuing to slumber on. Breathing a soft, shuddering sigh of relief, Rose pressed onward.

The next room felt a good deal larger, perhaps three times the size of the one Rose had just left behind. Setting a hand on the nearby wall, Rose got unsteadily to her feet and began to cautiously make her way along the perimeter. Twice, she stopped, thinking she heard something moving somewhere. Twice, she forced herself to keep going, sweat beading up on her forehead as she nervously traversed the dark space and eventually came to a break in the wall – another large door with nothing to block it leading into yet another chamber.

It was as Rose was about to enter that next chamber that she thought she felt a shift in the air, again. Turning around, she found herself gazing at a patch of wall across the large chamber that appeared to be dimly light, if just barely. For a split second, Rose nearly went running toward that patch of wall, only barely managing to stop herself before taking that first step. If there was an exit near that area, she could run once she was out, but not before. Her footfalls would draw too much attention and she'd be caught again in an instant.

Continuing to move as quietly as she was able, Rose crossed the chamber, careful not trip or stick a foot somewhere that would land in her a lot of trouble, like an open gap or hole. When she finally reached the wall, she set a hand on it and followed it a semi-enclosed area slightly smaller than the one she'd awakened in and discovered that, in one corner of the ceiling, early morning daylight was filtering in through the cracks of wooden plank barrier set over a hole more than large enough to accommodate a person.

An exit. Probably one the creature used from time to time to get out of the temple. Rose felt her heart leap in excitement, but her joy was short-lived. There was no ladder or rope with which to reach the covered hole. If she wanted out, she would have to scale the stonework, hand over foot, and pull herself up to the exit before managing to shift the barrier aside.

While this might have been the point where other people cried in utter frustration, this was the point at which Rose rolled up what remained of the sleeves of her nightgown and sought out seams in the stonework with both hands. Weak though she was, she was not about to give up. Not yet. Not when victory was so close to being in her grasp. Adrenaline and determination would just have to be enough for her to get the job done.

The going was slow from the start, Rose having to pause every few feet or so to breathe and rest a moment before continuing. A few times, she nearly slipped and fell, a few pebbles of debris coming loose from the old stonework and plummeting to the floor below. Each time, Rose paused in her climb, breath held and listening hard for the sounds of clawed feet over the chamber floors. When no sounds reached her, she continued, struggling up the rest of the way with as much haste as her exhausted body could muster.

The barrier at the top looked like an old wooden door that had been torn from its hinges, just barely large enough to cover the hole with overlap. Worming one hand up under it so that she could grip the ledge, Rose gritted her teeth and used her other hand to shift the door enough to one side so that she could get her hand on its edge and force it out of the way. That done, she used what little energy she had left to haul herself painfully up over the ledge and onto the damp ground outside.

The forest had never smelled so sweet and welcoming, the scent of wet soil and greenery filling her nostrils and chasing the musty air of the temple innards out of her lungs. For a few minutes, Rose simply lay there, resting and absorbing the notion that she was finally free. She might not die, after all.

Yet, it was as she forced herself to her feet and took those first few steps of freedom that Rose realized she wasn't sure exactly where she would go next. It would be a long, dangerous trek back to Lastonbell, which was the nearest town. One where, unless Rose could find food and water along the way, she would end up nourishment for forest scavengers before she finished the journey. Moreover, if she did make it that far, what then? The people of Lastonbell had rejected her. That she was in this mess in the first place was entirely their doing. Should she dare show her face in town again, they might forego a return trip to the temple and simply kill her on the spot.

What to do? Try to make the trip back, maintain hope that she could hitch a ride from someone on their way to Pendrago so she could skip Lastonbell and head for the capital instead? Rose took a few more steps, shivering in the early morning cold. She had no food. No water. No weapons. No outerwear to shield her from the weather. She didn't even have a pair of shoes to protect her feet.

She was going to die, after all.

A snort seized her attention, forcing her to wrench her defeated gaze away from the patchy, muddy ground directly in front of her. Rose looked up, feeling her heart nearly stop as she did so.

There was a huge boar in front of her, hardly a stone's throw away. Small, watery, reddish eyes glared at Rose over a set of yellowed, deadly tusks. Rose could feel her chest heaving as she drew rapid, shallow breaths in sheer terror. A large enough boar could easily kill an armed man wearing protective armor. What chance did she stand against something with that much strength, especially when it was already angry?

A snarl erupted from behind Rose. Whirling around, Rose found herself face to face with something far more terrifying than any enraged forest animal, even one that looked like it might be possessed. Out of the hole in the ground it came, black, feathered wings stretching to their full length and height as it emerged into the rays of light cutting through the canopy overhead. Head crowed with two sets of horns, the larger pair curling like ram's horns around shaggy, white-to-green hair that fell to its shoulders, the gargoyle-like beast that had taken Rose from the altar hours before stood up in all its frightening glory. It looked like a man half transformed into a dragon, all its clothes gone save its pants, which were tattered and torn about its calves.

There was no time to scream, no time to run. The boar suddenly charged forward with an angry shriek, barreling toward Rose like a runaway wagon. The dragon-man roared in answer and lunged _over_ Rose as she ducked down, cowering in anticipation of being caught between the two beasts. Landing on top of the boar, the dragon-man tackled it backward and onto the ground, claws sinking into its flesh. Whatever happened next, however, Rose did not see. She was too busy turning and trying to find somewhere to run and hide, only to slip and topple toward the hole in the ground. She screamed and flailed, hand managing to seize a vine near the ledge. Then she was through, falling, gripping the vine for all she was worth, praying to whatever merciful entity might be listening to spare her the pain of death via crashing to the temple floor. Two-thirds of the way down, her makeshift rope went taut and stopped her fall, but only temporarily. A second or two later, the vine snapped somewhere above her head, her weight too much for it to bear.

Rose grunted in pain as she hit the stone floor, spikes of agony shooting up through one ankle before she crumpled into a panting heap. Somewhere above her, here was a high pitched squeal that ended in a pathetic whimper. 

One of the two combatants had died. Rose was sure of it. And it was probably the boar.

Rose forced herself to get up, doing her best to drag herself back into the dark confines of the temple chambers. Tears were flowing freely down the sides of her face, both out of fear and due to pain. Her ankle was twisted at the very least, if not broken. Putting weight on it was nearly impossible, and every limping, halting step brought on a fresh wave of agony that made colors explode behind Rose's lids whenever she closed her eyes. As she managed to make it inside a nearby room and press her back to the wall just inside the entrance, she heard something come clambering back inside through the hole.

It would find her in a mere minute or two, if not sooner. And this time it likely wouldn't spare her life. She was awake now and wounded, an easy target. One that would be amusing to toy with as opposed to a limp body that wouldn't be any fun to torture before devouring.

Claws scraped over the stone. Rose could hear the creature sniffing about, scale-covered tail swishing around over the floor behind it. Slumping down against the wall, she hugged herself and waited, though some small, stubborn, angry part of her was so tired of all this. She'd nearly died three or four times in the last few days and she was sick of it. Tired of waiting, fed up with being dragged around and treated like a disposable object. Why couldn't her suffering just end already?

There was a huff from around the corner of the entrance. Rose cringed back from it but made no further attempt to flee. As the large, dark shadow emerged into view, head turning toward her, Rose shot as hateful a glare its direction as she could possibly manage.

“Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?” she all but hissed, eyes narrowing to thin slits of blue. “Is this a game to you, you stupid brute? Well, I'm tired of being everyone's plaything! There's nowhere left for me to go and I'm half dead anyway, so stop fucking around and put me out of my misery!”

The creature snorted. “...no.”

Rose's eyes went wide, her eyebrows shooting up toward her hairline. “Wh...what? Did you just...?”

One large, clawed hand seized her by the back of the nightgown and tugged her upright, the dragon-man offering no further explanation as he tucked Rose under one arm and began to walk back to the small room they had been sleeping in earlier. Halfway there, Rose managed to shake off her shock and began to kick and flail, raking her dirty nails over every inch of scales or flesh she could reach.

“YOU PRICK! You could talk all this time and all you've done is scare the shit out me by acting like some kind of savage monster!? Put me down! I'm not going anywhere with you! Did you hear me!? _I said PUT ME DOWN!_”

“So noisy...”

“The hell did you expect, huh? Bastard! Do you have any idea what I've been through?! Put me down before I–“

Rose grunted as she landed in the pile of cloth, fortunately on her less pained side, though the jolt was still enough to send a spark of pain up through her injured lower leg. Cursing lowly, Rose curled in on herself and huddled angrily in the soft nest, tired eyes trying to track her terse host as he approached one wall. Mouth opening, he shot a thin line of yellow, greenish tinged flame out at a torch that was set into a sconce there, casting the small room in warm firelight.

For the first time, Rose was able to get a decent look at her surroundings in that part of the temple. Much to her surprise, the room contained more than the pile of old blankets and clothes she had slept on earlier. There were a handful of wooden boxes stacked up against the opposite wall, upon which sat an old oil lamp and a black top hat adorned with a ring of fancy golden medallions. Beside the crates was a wooden and metal chest, which the dragon-man approached next, opening it up to retrieve what looked like a large canteen.

“You sound like shit,” he growled as he walked back over and thrust the canteen in her direction. “Drink some water before your damn throat ends up completely raw.”

Rose eyed the canteen, wondering if contained poison. The thought of finally having some water after several hours of nothing was far too tempting, however, so she snatched it from his large, clawed hand without a word of thanks and tore the cap off. Mercifully, it contained nothing that tasted suspect at all, just room temperature water, which Rose began to greedily gulp down the second she realized it was safe for consumption. When the canteen was empty, she dropped it and collapsed back against the blankets, just taking a moment to breathe.

Her reprieve was short-lived, however, as footfalls caused Rose to tense up again and shrink back and away from the dragon-man as he approached and crouched down a few feet away. He held out one hand, just over her injured ankle, and she tried once more to pull back.

“Hold still,” he growled quietly. “This won't hurt.”

Rose eyed him with suspicion, but after receiving some much-needed water from her gruff host, she figured not wiggling away from him was the least she could do. So she stayed put and watched as what looked like a winged metal pendulum suddenly appeared a few inches below his outstretched hand, dangling there on a thin black line. The air stirred around them, causing the pendulum to swing, and gradually a green aura surrounded both the pendulum and Rose's injured ankle. With the strange glow came heat, but not in an unpleasant sense. Rather, it was...revitalizing. Something about it not only made her ankle feel better, but it seemed to sharpen her sense of awareness.

“Are you...healing me?” she asked hesitantly, confusion clear in her expression. “Why? How? I thought... Don't creatures like you eat humans?”

“Yeah. Thought about eating you when you were left on the altar,” he admitted as he finished casting his strange spell, the glow and pendulum both vanishing at the same time. “Changed my mind, though.”

“Why...?”

“Because you're another victim of human stupidity.”

Sitting up, Rose felt over her ankle with one hand, shocked to find that it had been largely healed, the swelling greatly reduced. Likely it would still be a few days before she could run again, but walking would probably be possible if she was careful. She turned her gaze back to the dragon-man, a frown settling over her features. “What does that mean? You're not wrong about me, but you make it sound like humans did something bad to you, too.”

He frowned as well and came up out of his crouch. “Going to go back to carve that boar up for the meat. Wait here.”

“Hey, you can't just leave me here without explaining yourself!”

“Yeah, I can.” Kneeling by the chest, he reopened it and pulled out a knife in a sheath and an empty cloth sack, one with several old, faded bloodstains on it.

“What if I try to follow you?”

“Wouldn't be smart. It's not safe outside for an unarmed human.”

“Then at least tell me your name before you go! Something other than all of this...nothingness!” Rose shot back with a pout.

He paused by the exit but didn't glance back. Not that it mattered, since Rose wasn't sure how he could see through all that hair covering the top half of his face, anyway.

“It's Dezel.”

Rose sighed. “Alright, Dezel. Fine. I'll stay here, but only because I don't have much of anywhere else to go!”

“And your name? Fair is fair.”

“Yeah, it is. My name's Rose.”

The only response was a grunt of acknowledgment. Then Dezel was gone, disappearing into the darkness of the chamber beyond.

Flopping back down onto her makeshift bed, Rose let her gaze fall on the opposite wall and the crates and chest up against it. She supposed if she wasn't so damn tired, she might be tempted to go rifling through her rude host's belongings. But she was oddly comfortable where she was, even despite the slight chill in the air. Couldn't hurt to close her eyes for a bit, she supposed.

Yeah, that sounded like a decent idea. More sleep never hurt anyone in a stressful situation.

* * *

Rose awoke with a start a short time later, the tantalizing scent of meat cooking somewhere beyond the room entrance immediately drawing her full attention to the door. Her stomach growled, empty for far too long, and Rose carefully pushed herself to her feet. Momentarily gone was the fear that something might jump out of the shadows to seize her, even though the torch in the room was burning low. Shuffling off the pile of cloth, Rose hugged her arms around herself as she slowly walked to the door, mindful of her weak ankle.

As she walked out into the main chamber, Rose noticed the fire burning beneath the hole in the ceiling in the other, smaller adjacent room. Smoke rose from the dancing flames, escaping out the hole above. Near the fire sat Dezel, his attention on a makeshift cooking spit he'd put together out of thin tree branches and set up on forks driven into seams in the temple floor. A couple large chunks of boar meat hung near the fire, thick droplets of liquefied fat dripping from them now and then and into an old pan set directly beneath them and alongside the hot coals.

Rose's mouth watered as she approached, even as she told herself over and over again that she needed to move slowly, if not for her ankle, then so as not to surprise the dragon-man. Dezel did not get up as Rose drew near the fire, though his head did turn somewhat in her direction. For a long moment, neither of them said anything. Then Dezel turned his attention back to the roasting meat, his tail lifting to wind around one end of the spit and turn it.

“...are you hungry?”

Rose was half tempted to snap at him. Of course she was hungry! It had been several hours since she'd been dragged into that damnable temple, after all. But she managed to hold her tongue, merely huffing out a frustrated sigh before responding.

“Yeah, like I wouldn't be. Been a long while since I've had a decent meal, you know.”

“Then sit,” he said. “The meat should be ready in a few minutes. You can have some berries in the meantime.”

He nodded toward a couple of large leaves set out on the floor beside him, covered in small piles of ripe wild blueberries. Small droplets of water still clung them and the leaves they sat on, having been washed somewhere not all that long ago.

It took Rose all of two seconds to decide that being within reach of a dragon creature was a small price to pay for getting to stuff her face with blueberries. She hurried over as best she was able, getting down on her knees and grabbing up several berries at once, shoving them into her mouth two, three, four, even five at a time. The first few mouthfuls, she could barely bring herself to chew more than a couple times before swallowing, she was so hungry. But then she forced herself to slow down, doing a little more chewing so she could savor the sweet juice over her tongue as each blueberry broke open between her teeth.

“Tch, slow down or you'll choke,” Dezel growled, the end of his tail lashing like that of an irritated cat.

“Pfft, and what do you care, huh?” Rose demanded between bites of food, her words partially muffled by half-chewed berries. “Then you wouldn't have to share your other food. Hell, you could eat me...”

“I already told you, I made the decision not to eat you. If I was going to at all, I would've done it after pulling you from the altar.”

“So why didn't you, huh? Didn't know some monsters came with a conscience.”

Dezel snorted. “Already told you the reason.”

“Pretty vague reason, really.”

“Just eat your food.”

Rose huffed and went back to focusing on what part of the meal she was allowed to have thus far, somehow managing to remember that she shouldn't eat all the berries. Her host probably wanted some, as well. It was as much as she could manage in the way of manners, anyway.

When the meat was ready, Dezel took the spit from the fire and used his knife to push the chunks down onto a metal platter. What grease hadn't dripped off into the iron pan pooled around the large pieces, spreading further as Dezel used his knife to cut and spread them into smaller chunks.

“Give it a few minutes or you'll burn yourself,” he advised before setting the knife aside and sitting back again. “I'll show you to a spring later where you can wash up and get the grease off your hands.”

It was difficult to tear her eyes away from the boar meat, even if it likely wasn't seasoned and had more or less gone straight from the carcass and onto the spit, but Rose somehow managed to look to her host in acknowledgment. Having at least some food in her stomach by that point, it was then that she really took a moment to look Dezel over properly, as her attention had been drawn to his most prominent features before.

While she knew he was larger than the average human, Rose figured Dezel must have been well over seven feet tall, helped by the fact that he walked on his large clawed toes like an animal. His torso overall also seemed somewhat elongated. Not grossly so, but enough to be outside of what would be considered normal human proportions. Rose supposed it must be part of the lizard-like influence that made him look like he was part dragon. What parts of him weren't covered in ebony plating or dark green scales appeared to be human flesh, his skin darker than her own, even gradating into a dark charcoal color in some areas to match his plating. His shaggy hair covered the upper half of his still-quite-human face and trailed partway down his upper back in an odd mane of sorts, silver-white near the roots and a light green toward the tips. He also had two sets of horns, the larger pair that resembled ram's horns curling down along the sides of his head while the other set emerged from the hair between the other pair and arched back behind his head, perhaps half a foot in length each. Drooping behind the ram horns were a pair of long, goat-like ears, one on each side of Dezel's head and covered in a thin layer of white fur and tipped in black. His teeth, from what Rose could see of them when he spoke, were white, sharp and triangular-shaped. His serpentine, black and green-scaled tail ended in a large tuft of hair, the same color as the two-toned strands on his head.

If Dezel noticed Rose looking him over, he said nothing of it, his head turned toward the fire. In fact, he didn't really move again until it was time to eat, one large paw-like hand pushing the metal platter closer to her.

“Eat,” he simply said before turning a little himself and using his claws to pick out a chunk of meat for himself.

Rose did not require a second invitation. She dove into the meal with gusto, selecting a large piece of boar meat for herself and holding it between both hands, tearing into it with her teeth like a dog who hadn't been fed for days. As she had suspected, the meat had not been seasoned at all, but it didn't matter. It was hot, though not hot enough to burn her mouth, and dripping with delicious grease that tasted nothing short of heavenly after the measly bits of hard stale bread and cheese she'd been given en route to the temple.

“What did I say before about eating more slowly?” Dezel grumbled before setting a canteen in front of her. “Here, in case your gorging causes you to get something lodged in your damn throat.”

“Do you ever do anything aside from grumble and complain?” Rose shot back between bites of food. “I haven't had anything since I got here. And the only thing I did get on the way from Lastonbell was stale bread and cheese. All those assholes cared about was me being able to walk enough to make it to the altar and that was it.”

Dezel made a low sound in disapproval but said nothing further on the matter. Watching him as she ate, Rose noticed that her host had oddly good table manners for a monster, especially one that had nothing but a knife and his own claws to help him eat. Dezel ate more slowly than she did, taking reasonably sized bites before chewing each one carefully before swallowing. When he needed to release a little air, he stifled the sound rather than belching. It was enough to make Rose pause in her own meal and frown at him, her mouth covered in grease.

“...you're really weird, you know that?”

Dezel paused as he was about to take another bite of meat and frowned back at her. “You say that like I care what you think.”

Rose sniffed in mild annoyance. “Oh, I know you don't care. I'm just saying. You're a weirdo. Looking the way you do and insisting on proper table manners. Keeping a young woman with no explanation as to why. Letting some crazy cult worship you.”

“...I didn't choose to have any of that happen.”

“So how about an explanation, huh? We're eating and talking over a meal is a good time to discuss stuff.”

Dezel grunted and resumed eating, choosing to ignore the aggravated glare Rose shot his way. 

“Jerk,” Rose muttered before returning her own attention to the food in her hands.

When the meal was over, Dezel went about the business of cleaning the area up, extinguishing the fire, and disposing of the meal remains and leaves somewhere outside. He then returned to his quarters and came back a minute later carrying what looked like a thick blanket.

“Not a towel, but it will do,” he said as he approached Rose and draped it over her shoulders.

“Whatever works,” Rose agreed with a shrug. “I can't really be picky, anyway.”

Or so she thought until Dezel swept her up into his arms and began carrying her toward the exit. Rose shrieked in alarm and started to wriggle and kick, eager to be out of his grasp until Dezel hissed at her through clenched teeth and bundled her up more tightly within the confines of the blanket.

“Rose, stop it! I'm only doing this so I can take you outside to wash up. I'll put you down again once we're through the hole in the ceiling.”

Though not usually one to suffer admonishment quite so easily, Rose stilled before nodding and curling up as tightly as possible within the blanket. Despite having received food from him and being kept from harm so far, she still did not entirely trust Dezel. And who could blame her, really? She knew little about him, thanks to his sparse answers to her questions, if not outright tight-lipped silence.

With a surprising amount of ease, Dezel scaled the wall using only one hand and his two feet, climbing up and out with little more than a few grunts over the exertion. He then set Rose down and began to walk through the brush surrounding the temple perimeter, tail swishing lazily behind him in time with his gait. Rose followed in his wake, careful to keep the blanket from dragging over the ground and watching her step so as not to put her bare soles over sharp rocks or anything with thorns.

“There's a spring back behind the temple,” Dezel explained as they walked. “It collects within a shallow indent, then flows out and down through the deepest part of the forest to meet up with the stream that flows between here and the basin.”

“Do the Dagonists know it's there?” Rose asked, suddenly realizing that it was possible they'd be caught out in the open while she was cleaning up.

“Yeah, but they rarely go there, even when at the temple to conduct rituals. I'll keep watch while you wash up. Right now, there aren't any other humans in the area, anyway.”

When they arrived at the spring, a pond-sized body of water surrounded by large rocks and perhaps only five or six feet deep at its lowest point, Rose took a moment to glance around before turning to glare at her host.

“Well, what are you still doing here, huh? Gonna stand around and watch me undress?”

Dezel turned his head aside with a low sound of annoyance, though that did little to hide the faint color that rose to his cheeks. “No! I'll be around the corner, watching for trouble. I'll wash up when you're through.”

Turning away, he walked back through the brush and vanished around a large boulder that was leaned against one of the temple's back walls. Rose stood watching that spot for a few seconds before finally deciding it might be safe to disrobe. Removing the blanket she folded it a few times and placed in on a large rock nearby before pulling her tattered, dirty nightgown up and over her head. She was about to set that aside as well when she paused, gazing down at it with a sudden heavy sensation in her chest.

Torn and filthy though it was, that article of clothing was all she had left of her life in Lastonbell, aside from the two hair ornaments she rarely removed, both of which had been gifts from her father. As a lump began to form in the back of her throat, Rose shook her head and hurriedly set the nightgown aside so she could get into the water. There was no point in mourning her life in Lastonbell, now. She could never go back to it and, the more she thought about it, the only good thing about it had been the time spent with her father and the very few friends she had been able to make.

Once she was free of her garment, Rose took a moment to relieve herself by a nearby bush, then turned to the task of cleaning up. The spring water was cold, but refreshingly so. Getting far in enough to have the water just above her knees, Rose splashed herself several times, rubbing vigorously at her arms and torso to get the dirt off and clean out her various cuts. It was then that a wooden bucket caught her eye, sitting upon another rock close by. Probably something the Dragonists had left to collect water when they required it. Or perhaps Dezel had left it there. Either way, it would be useful to Rose in dumping water over her head to rinse her dirty auburn hair out, as well.

When she was finished, Rose used the blanket to towel off a bit before pulling her nightgown back on. She then bundled herself up and went looking for Dezel, who she found seated around the other side of the boulder, just within its shadow.

“I'm done,” she said, shuffling back half a step as her host regained his feet, towering over her more than she cared to notice. “Guess I should wait here, huh?”

“Yeah. I'll be done in a few minutes.”

Rose watched Dezel walk off toward the spring, then leaned back against the boulder, letting the patches of sun cutting through the tree branches overhead warm her bare feet and the outside of the blanket. Aside from finally having some hot food, it was probably the best she'd felt since her last night in Lastonbell when she'd laid down in her bed to sleep. She was decently washed up and warming up again after a dip in some clean water. She had worthwhile food in her stomach. And it didn't seem like she had to immediately fear the loss of her own life.

Odd how the “good” things in life could become relative so quickly.

When Dezel returned, Rose found herself stifling a laugh, which surprised even her. Not only had he cleaned up, but he had somehow managed to get the hair on his head and tail dried out so that it looked almost absurdly fluffy.

“What are you staring at?” Dezel rumbled irritably.

“Oh, nothing much!” Rose replied, sporting the first cheeky grin she'd managed in days. “I just didn't think it would take a bath of all things to make you look less like a monster and more like a fluffy dog after a wash.”

The faint flush of pink returned to Dezel's cheeks, causing Rose to have to cover her mouth yet again. He sputtered indignantly, unable to properly form words of protest, then simply huffed and turned tail, heading back to the temple side entrance. It was at that point that Rose couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed out loud as she trotted after him, far too amused at how easy it had been to take such a big, grouchy brute off guard.

After Dezel had carried her back inside, putting her down with the comment that he would set up a rope there at some point so she could go outside on her own, the pair returned to his quarters. By that point, the torch had long since burned down to nothing, so Dezel lit the oil lamp with a thin line of his own greenish-yellow flames.

“I've been meaning to ask you,” Rose began as she stood by, watching with the blanket still around her as Dezel opened one of the crates, “Where did you get all this? You don't really seem to need most of it.”

“Some of it was left here by former keepers of the temple in this room and in others. Other items I took from bandits I killed in the woods. Items that belonged to them or what they had stolen from travelers.”

“Why bother to take that stuff, though?”

Dezel paused in his rummaging about, holding what looked like a white tunic in his hands. “I...don't know. Something about the way I am, now. I wanted to have them.”

“The way you are, now? Did you used to be some other way?”

“Here, you can try these on.”

Though she was aggravated that Dezel had once again avoided her questions, Rose took the clothes he offered and glanced over them. A pair of dark brown pants that looked as though they'd fit decently and that white tunic, which looked far too big for her. Frowning, Rose let the blanket slip from her shoulders completely so she could step closer and peer into the open crate.

“I think this shirt is going to be too big on me. But what about that tunic, there? The red one?”

Dezel pulled the item in question out. “This one?”

“Yeah. I think that'll work better. Are there any socks and shoes in there?”

“Socks, yes. Shoes, no.”

“Well, better than walking about in completely bare feet, I guess.” Rose took the socks as Dezel handed them over. “Okay, I'll try these on, so how about you get out of the room a minute?”

Dezel sighed. “I played along with this outside because I didn't feel like arguing with you, but it won't matter if I leave or not.”

Rose blinked in confusion. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“I'm blind.”

“You're _what?_” Rose exclaimed, nearly dropping all the clothes in surprise. “But...but how? How have you not been walking into walls all this time? Even with all that hair in your face, I thought you must have amazing vision to be able to move around in so much darkness all the time!”

“I navigate by the air currents. They allow me to find doors and other openings, judge how large they are, avoid obstacles and get around without needing any light at all.”

“Okay, I guess I can buy that, since you are some weird supernatural monster, but...” Rose trailed off a moment as she glanced at the garments in her arms. “How did you know just now which shirt to hand me, since I asked for it by color?”

“The wind will tell me just about anything I need it to. Colors, textures, anything.”

“Can you read that way...?”

“If the text is large enough. So signs, yes. Books...no. The words are usually too small and numerous.”

Rose was quiet a moment, processing everything she had just been told. Then something else occurred to her. She glanced up, eyes a fraction wider. “Wait, just how far does that weird air current reading sense of yours go? Can you sense what's beyond this room?”

“I can sense everything within all the open chambers on this side of the temple.”

“That far? Were you 'watching' me while I was bathing earlier!?”

Dezel's face flushed nearly as red as Rose's hair, his ears suddenly pricking up in alarm. “What? No! Why the hell would I do that! You're just...just some undersized runt of a human! The hell would I care about what you look like!”

Rose reacted without thinking. As the clothes tumbled to the floor, her right hand found the side of Dezel's face, her palm striking his cheek hard enough to leave a red mark in its wake. In an instant, she regretted it. In an instant, he changed, the air of humanity about him evaporating, replaced with animalistic rage.

He tackled her to the floor with a snarl, his far larger, paw-like hands pinning her down while his tail seized her legs, winding about them to keep them from lashing out. Lips rippling back to reveal his two rows of deadly, triangular-shaped teeth, Dezel hung menacingly over Rose, inches away from the possibility of tearing out her exposed throat with a single, well-placed bite.

Rose gaped up at Dezel in horror, her heart pounding up in her throat. The speed with which he had reacted had been beyond human and as she stared up into his open trap of a maw with wide eyes, she realized that his patience had a limit, one she had tested far too much. She trembled underneath him, yet as her initial shock wore off somewhat and he hesitated to finish the job, she managed to find her own voice and anger once more.

“W-Well?” she breathed, her voice wavering as she struggled to spit the words out and not come off like a complete coward. “Is this it or not? Are you finally going to kill me?”

Dezel growled down at her, his ears flicking back. For the first time, she could make out his eyes behind his bangs and saw that they were indeed clouded silver with cataracts. 

“I should,” he growled, eyes narrowing to thin slits, his grip on her tightening a fraction. “I should rip your throat out and then swallow you whole!”

“Then why don't you, huh? What's stopping you, Dezel?” Rose demanded, trying to ignore the hot pricking sensation at the corners of her eyes as she stared death in the face. “Maybe it would be better that way for us both!”

Dezel licked his lips, revealed the end of his tongue to be slightly forked. The longer he hesitated, however, the more the rage seemed to drain out of him. He sniffed tentatively at her. Then he was withdrawing, turning on his heels and retreating out of the room on all fours. As Rose lay gasping on the floor, eyes closing as she tried to slow her heart rate, she heard the familiar sound of Dezel clawing his way up the wall by the exit to escape outside.

Though it did take her a few minutes, Rose eventually did sit up, her breathing finally even enough again that she didn't think she might suddenly pass out from sheer fright. Still, she sat and rubbed at her arms a bit before finally forcing herself to her feet, mind a whirl as to what the best course of action might be. Some part of her wanted to get changed into the clothes she'd been offered, then snag the canteens, the lamp and knife and get the hell out of the temple while she had the opportunity.

Yet, for some reason, she did not. Instead, Rose got changed, cinching the somewhat baggy pants in place with a leather belt she found in the chest and leaving her nightgown behind on the pile of blankets as she exited the room, knife and lamp in hand. For whatever reason, Dezel was still resistant to the idea of killing her. It made her wonder why he was in the temple and how he had ended up there. He had mentioned something before about how they were both victims of human stupidity, so perhaps that was enough to make her stay. To at least give him the benefit of the doubt after all he had done for her, even if he was a foul-tempered bastard.

Rose spent the next few hours exploring the other rooms attached to the main chamber, finding a few other chests and working them open despite their rusty hinges. One of them contained only some dust and remnants of old scrolls that were practically dust themselves. Another held some old robes – possibly for temple rituals – as well as a few candles, more lamp oil, and a few history books. The last held the most useful items, which included a leather knapsack, another canteen, some needles and thread, a set of daggers with scabbards and a few bottles of poison antidote. Stuffing the books, daggers, canteen, and bottles into the knapsack, Rose carried them back to Dezel's quarters before going through the crates there.

The crates in the small room contained mostly more old clothes, blankets and books, though Rose did find a hairbrush and a pair of boots at the very bottom of the last one. Though the boots were a little too large for her, she set them aside, thinking that maybe if she doubled up her socks with another pair she'd found, that might be enough to make them usable. In searching the chest, Rose found a couple of old tin cups and plates at the bottom, along with some tin containers of a few various seasonings, including salt and pepper. Those would certainly come in handy the next time Dezel wanted to spit roast some meat.

Well, if he chose to do so again, anyway. The more time passed, the more Rose was beginning to wonder if her ill-tempered host would ever return at all.

As the afternoon wore on into late evening, Rose gave up on keeping the lamp lit and finally curled up in the pile of blankets, pulling one over top of herself to stay warm as the temple interior cooled further with the setting of the sun. Having spent so much time exploring the other rooms, including the area by a weird semi-circular door outside the main chamber, she was feeling rather worn out. That she still needed to be careful how she treated her healing ankle likely did not help, but there was something about the temple in certain areas that did not leave her feeling so well. That same odd, oppressive, weight-in-her-chest feeling she had when the cultists had first escorted her in through the main entrance.

Rose was just starting to doze off somewhat when she heard it – the sound of claws over stone. She stiffened under the blanket, uncertain as to whether she was picking up on the sound of Dezel's return or if something far more dangerous and less picky about what it ate had found its way into the main chamber. But, a few moments later, a familiar dark shape made its way into the room, pausing only to set something down on the floor near Rose before flopping down by the opposite corner. Reaching out with one hand, Rose felt over what had been left and discovered several small objects set on a large leaf. Bringing one to her nose, she sniffed it to find that it was a ripe strawberry.

“Sorry I didn't bring anything else.” Dezel's voice was so quiet, Rose was barely able to understand him.

“It's okay.” Sitting up, Rose began to eat the strawberries, still grateful for whatever food she could get her hands on, though this time she ate with a bit more care. “Thanks.”

A relative silence fell between them, broken only by the occasional sound of Rose eating as she made her way through the dozen or so strawberries. Finally, as she bit into the last one, Dezel spoke up again.

“You're scared of me, aren't you?”

Rose swallowed the bite of strawberry in her mouth, sitting quietly afterward as she considered the question before responding. “Maybe. But maybe I've been kind of scared of you this whole time, so what's it matter?”

“Guess it doesn't matter. Not really.”

“You just gonna stay in that corner and sulk for the rest of the night?”

“I'm not sulking. I'm just laying here until you fall asleep so I can sleep.”

Rose huffed. “Bullshit. You're sulking. But maybe you wouldn't if you'd actually bother to talk to me about this situation. You know, answer my questions.”

There was a long, weary sigh from Dezel. “...fine. Whatever. What do you want to know?”

“Maybe we can start with what you are? Like, are you actually some disgruntled dragon god who needs appeasing?”

“Tch, no. The cultists can't even see me clearly. They just know there's something shadowy in they're afraid of.”

Rose blinked in the darkness. That seemed like a lot to unpack, so one thing at a time? “Wait, what? What do you mean they can't see you?”

“I'm a hellion, though I used to be a seraph. Both hellions and seraphim are spiritual beings who can't be seen by most humans because your kind doesn't possess enough spiritual insight.”

“But...I can see you just fine.”

“Because you were born with spiritual resonance. It's a rarity among humans. It's part of what stopped me from eating you when I found you.”

This whole question and answer session almost felt like it was creating more confusion than it was clearing anything up at all. Rose easily had a dozen more questions than when they'd started, yet she realized she could only ask one or two at a time and expect to get any information in return. “Okay, so hang on. Back up. You said you're a hellion, but you used to be a seraph and both of those are spiritual things...? If you're spirits, doesn't...doesn't that make you like ghosts?”

“No. Ghosts are the lost souls of the dead, and hellions and seraphim are living beings. Though ghosts can also become hellions.”

“So how does something become a hellion? Can humans turn into hellions? What even is the difference!?”

Dezel sighed again and finally rolled over. “This is why I didn't want to answer any of your questions before. I knew it would only confuse you and make you ask even more questions.”

“Well, can you blame me? C'mon, Dezel! You can't just expect me to live in the dark here all the time!”

“Fine... Any living or previously living thing can become a hellion if it's exposed to enough malevolence, which you can think of as negative spiritual energy created through conflict and contradiction. Seraphim can't create malevolence, but humans are very good at making a lot of it.”

“And you somehow got exposed to a lot of it and changed.”

“Right. Unfortunately, there's a fair amount of it in this temple, though most of it is concentrated on the other side thanks to the cultists and in the lower levels, where there are undead hellions about. It's part of why I stay on this side of it most of the time.”

“Wait, there are other hellions in here!?”

“Yes, like I just said, they're in the lower levels on the other side. The semi-circular door connected to the main chamber here keeps them out.”

Rose paused to swallow, suddenly a bit nervous. That door must have been the one she heard rolling open and shut again when Dezel pulled her from the altar and ran off with her. To think it was all that stood between them and having a bunch of undead hellions attacking them in their sleep...

“If this place is so dangerous, why are you still here?” she couldn't help but ask next. “And for something called a hellion, you...really don't seem all that bad. Is it because you used to be a seraph?”

If Rose remembered correctly from her limited contact with the church in Lastonbell, seraphim were supposed to be some kind of celestial beings that brought good blessings unto mankind. She had never really placed much stock in the belief, personally, especially since participating in that particular religion required faith in beings one could not see. And yet, here was someone claiming he used to be one...

“Some hellions who used to be seraphim or humans don't lose their intelligence, though it's rare. I have a theory as to why I am how I am, but I don't feel like discussing it right now. As for why I stay here...” There was a pause as Dezel shifted his position again, curling up as though he was ready to sleep. “Doesn't really matter to me anymore where I stay. Just as long as I don't have to deal with humans that often.”

“Afraid you'll go on a killing spree or something?”

“No. I just don't like humans. They're noisy. And I'm almost always tempted to eat them.”

“Oh.” Rose found herself tugging at a loose thread she'd found in one of the blankets she was seated upon. “Guess that's more incentive for me to get on my way once my ankle finishes healing.”

Dezel grunted quietly but didn't respond otherwise. For some odd reason, Rose felt a dull ache in her chest at his lack of protest to the idea.

“I mean, you don't want me here, right? So I should leave as soon as I'm able.”

“That would be for the best.”

“Yeah, guess it would be.” Laying back down again, Rose faced the wall so she didn't have to see Dezel's form against the darkness of the room. For nearly half a minute, neither of them said anything and Rose wondered if maybe the silence had lulled Dezel to sleep. Still, there was something else she needed to say. “Hey... Dezel?”

“What?”

“Sorry about earlier. For slapping you, I mean.”

“Mn.” Dezel exhaled softly, wearily. “Shouldn't have insulted you, so I'm sorry about that. Sorry for jumping on you, too. Lost control of my temper. Been a little harder to control it since I turned.”

“It's okay. At least you didn't actually hurt me.”

“Yeah... At least.”

“Hey, can I ask you one more thing before I go to sleep?”

“Fine. But only one more thing.”

Rose fingered the edge of the blanket covering her, almost afraid to ask the question nagging at her. “You said there's malevolence in here, right? Is that what's making me feel weird once in a while? It's like a heavy feeling in my chest.”

“Yeah. Most humans can't sense it, but you can because of your spiritual resonance. And the malevolence here is another reason you should leave when you're healed. It might start to make you sick over a long period.”

“Will I eventually turn into a hellion, too?”

“That's another question. Go to sleep, Rose.”

“Dezel... Please?” She paused, waiting for a response. When none came, she shivered and spoke up again. “I won't be able to sleep unless I know!”

“Will you be able to sleep if there's a possibility you might become one?”

Rose fell silent again, her stomach churning a little at the thought of an affirmative answer. When she finally responded, her voice was too hesitant and quiet for her own liking. “I don't know.”

Dezel sighed once more. “Can't say for sure that you won't, but I doubt it. Your heart is pure. It doesn't generate malevolence. Just stay true to who you are and that won't change.”

While Rose had to admit that much of this was still confusing, the answer was enough to satisfy her for the moment. Enough for her to settle further into her spot on the blankets and close her eyes. “Alright. That's somewhat reassuring so...thanks.”

“Mn. No need for thanks. Just go to sleep.”

“Right. Goodnight, Dezel.”

Dezel grunted in response and pulled his wings down tighter over his body. Soon enough, his breathing had slowed and deepened with sleep.

Rose lay awake a little while longer, attempting to further process everything she had been told. She still had questions, but those would need to wait for another time. She also still had a lot to think about regarding her future and where she might end up, but perhaps pondering all that in the dead of night when she was still having trouble walking at times wasn't the best idea. Doing so much thinking had never really been her style, anyway, not outside of helping her father make plans around their business. It was usually best to take things as they came and there was no reason not to continue doing so, now.

That in mind, Rose finally managed to fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What better way to bond with your new hellion roommate than with a bit of wine?

The next two days were spent in relative peace and quiet. Dezel continued to bring in food from the forest in the form of berries, nuts, edible roots and meat from wild prickleboars he'd managed to catch and kill. He set up a length of rope by the exit in the ceiling so that Rose would be able to get outside on her own if necessary, though her ankle still pained her just enough that she bothered Dezel to carry her out a few times a day, which he did with some grumbling but no outright refusal.

On the third day, as the two were making their way back from the spring behind the temple as the sunset, Dezel signaled for Rose to stop and stay quiet. Standing just behind her hellion companion, Rose watched with some apprehension as Dezel's blind gaze turned one way and then another, his ears perked and swiveling attentively.

“The cultists. They've returned to check the temple,” he whispered before scooping Rose up into his arms and hurrying back to the open hole in the ground.

Clamping one hand over her mouth to keep from making any noises on accident as they descended into the relative darkness of the chamber below, Rose allowed Dezel to carry her back to his quarters before saying anything.

“Why are they here? Do they know about the entrance to this side of the temple?” She shivered against her will, the idea of being caught and bound again rattling her more than she cared to admit.

“Probably to see if their offering was taken. Maybe to pray. I don't know.” Dezel set her down on the pile of blankets and then turned back toward the entrance. “I don't think they know about this area, but I'm going back to seal it up anyway. Stay here and stay quiet.”

Wrapping herself up in the thick blanket that had been designated as her bathing towel a few days prior, Rose huddled against the wall and watched as Dezel vanished from sight, listening as he padded quickly over the chamber floor to the exit and then climbed outside. She swallowed thickly as silence fell over the room and surrounding chambers, tempted to light the oil lamp, yet knowing that if one of the cultists managed to get into that section, darkness would be one of her best defenses. 

The seconds ticked by, time slowly draining away into one minute after another. Then, about ten minutes after Dezel had departed, Rose heard something near the hole in the ceiling – the wooden barrier being drawn back.

Rose held her breath. To her horror, two voices she did not recognize managed to filter through the space between Dezel's quarters and the exit. She could not hear them clearly enough to make out the words, but they were enough to make her cringe further into the blanket she'd wrapped herself in. Her thoughts darted to the hunting knife Dezel had left on top of the crate by the top hat after cleaning it earlier in the day. Though Rose was no expert fighter, Brad had taught her a thing or two about wielding knives in a pinch. If she could get to it, if she could defend herself until Dezel returned...

Suddenly, a blast of wind roared through the chamber, causing both men to scream in shock and terror. Rose hunkered down further, listening with some admitted grim satisfaction as both of them retreated in the face of Dezel's rage as the hellion defended the entrance to his territory. As their shouts of alarm faded into nothing, the wooden barrier slammed back into place once more, Dezel's heavy footfalls padding across the large chamber floor afterward.

“Idiots,” he snarled as he re-entered his quarters. “Hopefully that will teach them to stay away from this area. If it doesn't, I'll just have to start killing them one by one.”

“Did you figure out what did they wanted here?” Rose asked as she peered up at the black shape Dezel cast against the darkness.

“No, and I don't care,” Dezel rumbled, picking up the knife. “Probably thought there might be something of value down here. Or maybe they wanted to see if your remains are here. The rest of them went to check the altar, so it really is possible they just wanted to be sure I'd taken you.”

“Hmph. Probably hoping that maybe their town's bad luck would change soon if I'm gone. Too bad for them I'm not!”

“Not as if a single human had anything to do with Lastonbell's problems, anyway.”

“Just a rotten coincidence, I guess.”

“And an increase in malevolence in the area over time, which is just about every human's fault and not just the fault of one. Probably has something to do with the Lord of Calamity, too.”

Rose blinked in confusion. “That...what?”

“The Lord of Calamity,” Dezel repeated as he walked back toward the door. “A bringer of destruction and a powerful source of malevolence. There have been a number of them through the ages and word is there's another out there somewhere, now.” He paused before exiting. “Doesn't help that Lastonbell no longer has a Lord of the Land – a designated guardian seraph – any longer. Having one would help hold the malevolence at bay.”

“Yeah? What happened to the one that was there?”

“Don't know, don't care.” Dezel shrugged and left the room, his voice echoing back as he walked off. “Stay here. I'm going to fetch dinner.”

“If I have to stay here, at least let me put in a request!” Rose called after him as she got up and barely managed to keep from stumbling her way over to the door. “Maybe bring back a rabbit this time? And some more blueberries?”

“I don't kill rabbits!”

“Pfft, what? Are they too quick for you?”

“No. Now stay put. I'll be back.”

Rose made a show of pouting at the door, knowing full well Dezel would be able to sense what she was doing, then made her way back to the blanket pile. Might as well curl up for a bit and get warm while she waited. There wasn't too much else to do just then, after all.

* * *

When Dezel returned about a half an hour later, he had something of a surprise with him in the form of a pack that had been dropped by one of the cultists. Likely it had been one of the two Dezel chased from the entrance. It contained a number of useful items, though the most interesting of them for Rose as her stomach growled were the rations of food stashed within. A large wedge of cheese rolled in cloth, a couple hunks of bread, what smelled like rabbit jerky and a small cloth bag Dezel had filled with blueberries. While Dezel lit the oil lamp, Rose tore into one of the large pieces of bread, barely chewing it enough to swallow before ripping a more than bite-sized chunk of cheese off the main portion of it.

“Figured since one of them was kind enough to leave all that behind, might as well make use of it,” Dezel said before sitting down nearby, his tail curling around his crossed legs. “Better than building a fire tonight, anyway. If any of those bastards are still hanging around, the smoke might get their attention.”

“Yeah, definitely for the best,” Rose agreed through a big mouthful of cheese. Picking up the other piece of bread, she held it out to her companion. “Here! Try some. It's not too bad.”

Dezel grunted softly and accepted the food, starting into it with his usual, odd but delicate way of eating. Head tilting to one side a moment, Rose watched him before swallowing the bite of food in her mouth and frowning.

“Why are you like that, anyway?”

“Like what?”

“Like...so super polite. Were you like that as a seraph?”

“Yes. Why does it matter?”

Rose shrugged and took another bite of bread. “I dunno, it's just weird seeing this big monster eating like a well-mannered gentleman.”

“It's how I was raised. Also, I like to savor my food. Or I did, anyway. At one time.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Taking a bite of bread, Dezel took his time chewing and swallowing it before responding, his voice a little quieter when he did. “Don't have much of a sense of taste left. Not since becoming a hellion. Meat's the easiest to taste, and the closer to raw, the stronger the flavor.”

“Oh...” Rose looked down at the food in her hands, frown deepening. “Sorry...”

“Tch, nothing for you to apologize for.”

“You can have most of the jerky if you want, then! I think maybe it's rabbit jerky.”

Dezel made a face, his tongue sticking out. “No. You eat it.”

“What is your deal with rabbits? Did you have a traumatic experience with one or something?”

“I just don't like hurting, killing or eating them, that's all.”

“Okay. Any reason why?”

Another grunt. Dezel took a bite of the cheese. “...they're cute. I don't like hurting them.”

Rose stared at him in the flickering lamp light for a second before laughing. “Seriously? That's your reason? Haha, oh my gods, I never thought a big, stern, tough guy like you would be all wishy-washy over bunnies!”

“Hmph! Just shut up and eat your food!” Dezel growled, though the rosy blush to his cheeks was not difficult to miss. “Bad enough I've had to kill boars for us both.”

Unable to keep the amused grin from her face, Rose allowed herself another small chuckle before tucking back into her meal. Dezel was more of a softie than she had ever imagined, especially for how fierce he appeared and how much of a show he could put on when angered. It was endearing in a strange way.

As the last of the bread and cheese vanished, and Rose ate her way through the blueberries, she took a moment to rummage around further in the knapsack. There were a few other basic supplies present, such as flint and a small knife, but what managed to snag Rose's attention above all else was a half-full water skin with a deep earthy, yet floral scent about it. Pulling the cork at the end, she sniffed it tentatively.

“Don't,” Dezel cautioned before finishing the last of his share of the food. “It's wine.”

“So?” Rose retorted confidently. “It's not like I've never had wine before.”

“Uh-huh. How old are you?”

“Nineteen. I'm old enough to have some.”

“You're also tiny. You're probably a lightweight. And I don't feel like putting up with you  
while you're drunk.”

“I'm not gonna get drunk! Jeez!” As if to prove the point right on the spot, Rose took a long drink from the skin...and immediately regretted it. The wine was stronger than she anticipated, leaving her with an overly warm sensation in her mouth and throat that tingled all the way down. She coughed a bit, ignoring Dezel's narrowed-eyed expression. “S-See? It's fine! T...totally fine! I'm good. I got this...”

“...doubtful.”

Well, that sounded like a challenge if Rose ever heard one. She shot Dezel a dirty look and took another drink from the skin, the second one not as long. However two lengthy sips soon turned to three, then five, then ten... And Rose found herself feeling what she could only describe as pleasantly..._fuzzy._

“You're getting drunk,” Dezel sniffed irritably. “Or at least very buzzed. Give me the wineskin. You've had plenty.”

“I'm fine!” Rose snapped, though she did hand over the skin, managing to do so without missing the hellion's outstretched hand. “See? I'm still pretty coordinated.”

Muttering something about irresponsibility and Rose slurring her words a bit, Dezel corked the skin, tucked it back inside the knapsack and set the bag aside, well out of Rose's reach. 

“You should have some, too!” Rose eyed her companion, pointing one finger at him. “Not like there's a lot left, anyway. You finish it off, big guy!”

“I'm not having any!”

“C'mooooon, Dezel! Why are you such a stick in the mud all the time?”

“Because someone here has to be responsible!”

Getting up from her spot, Rose closed the gap between them, set her hands on her hips and bent over enough to look Dezel right in the eye, forgetting for a second that he couldn't see her that way at all. “Aren't hellions supposed to be _not_ responsible? C'mon, I wanna see you loosen up!”

His eyes narrowed and his lips pulled into a stubborn frown. “No!”

“Dezel, jeeeeez!” 

Before she knew what she was doing, Rose had seized him by two of his horns and was shaking his head in what she figured was an affectionate manner. Dezel sputtered indignantly in response and grabbed her arms, trying to gently pry her off, but without much luck.

“Rose, stop! Let go of my horns!”

“No! Not until you have some wine, too! Or...unless you let me brush your hair!”

“Or...wait, _what?_” His grip slackened. “What the hell?”

Finally releasing his horns, Rose used her fingers to fluff the hair on the top of his head, a silly grin gracing her features. “I wanna brush your hair! It's always so fluffy, but messy, especially after you've had a bath! I found a hairbrush in one of the crates, so how 'bout it?”

“I...I don't need my hair brushed! I'm a _hellion!_”

“Yeah, a really terrible one! One who's all responsible and wants to have perfect table manners! So if you're gonna be a gentleman demon, you should actually look the part!”

“Rose, this isn't funny! Just go sit down already and–“

“But I wanna do something for you!” she whined, suddenly hugging his head to her chest and causing him to freeze up from head to tail tip. “You keep bringing me food and you showed me where I can bathe here and you chased those stupid cultists off! C'mooooon... Please?”

“F-fine,” he barely managed, his breath noticeably warm against and through her tunic. “Just...let go of me.”

The reaction was immediate, Rose releasing Dezel and stumbling over to the crates to retrieve the hairbrush. “Yaaaaay! I'm gonna give you a makeover!”

“A...a _what?!_”

“Haha, you're so funny when you're taken off guard!”

A few articles of clothing hit the floor as Rose dug around in one of the crates, successfully drawing the hairbrush out like a sword from a stone a few seconds later. She then made her way back over to Dezel, nearly tripping over a seam in the stone floor in the process and forcing him to sit forward and catch her. Laughing merrily as though the whole situation was one big joke, her cheeks visibly pink in the lamplight, Rose poked him in the nose with the end of the brush.

“You got good reflexes, though!”

“Rose...” Hauling her upright, Dezel set her on her feet again. “Be careful. I don't want you falling and cracking your head against the floor.”

“Awww, you care so much!” Rose cooed back before dancing haphazardly behind him and taking the brush to his hair. “And I care, too, so time to make you all nice and pretty!”

Dezel sputtered, trying to force himself to sit still as Rose tugged at the tangles in his hair and mane. “No, I don't! I just don't want to have to mop up any blood you'll get on the floor if you fall!”

“You say that, but your face is super red right now! You're such a bad liar. But that's okay. I can pretend to be scared of you if you want.”

“I don't... Why would I–!? _What the hell are you on about!?_”

“You just act all scary and tough because you don't want me to miss you when I leave!”

“Bullshit!”

“See? You're doing it again!”

“Look, just...just shut up and get this over with!” Dezel growled, hunkering down under the attention from the brush. “We both need to go to sleep!”

“Mmmkay, but I think I'm riiiiight.”

There were no further arguments from Dezel, the hellion forcing himself to keep quiet as he hunched his shoulders up and wrapped his tail tighter about his body. Rose hummed as she worked, diligently if roughly working out the tangles in Dezel's hair and mane, picking them out here and there before slicking them down with the brush. As seconds turned to minutes, however, Rose began to notice that Dezel's posture was loosening up, his head tilting forward a little more. Grinning to herself, she slowed down a bit, using the bristles to gently tease the tufts of hair behind his ears. A shiver ran through the hellion, his breath catching briefly.

“Heh, someone's starting to relax,” Rose teased lightly, running the brush down the back of his head next and along the thin mane of hair over the upper third of Dezel's spine. “Bet this feels good, huh?”

Dezel grunted in response and tilted his ears back in what Rose took to be annoyance. Or at least his attempt to put on airs of annoyance, anyway. Grinning, she ran a fingertip down along the edge of his right ear, causing it to flick. 

“Your ears are pretty sensitive, huh?” Rose couldn't quite keep the wicked edge out of her tone.

“Tch, of course they are! They're ears, not armor plating.”

“Mn, clearly, since they're so soft and fuzzy...”

“Rose, don't you dare–!”

Too late. Rose had taken one of his ears in her hands and was running the brush gently over the soft layer of fuzz covering the outside. Dezel twitched...and then whined softly. 

“Someone's got a weak spot!” Rose said in a soft, sing-songy voice. 

“Rose...”

“Do you really want me to stop?”

Dezel said nothing back immediately, sitting in hunched over silence while she carefully ran the bristles of the brush over his ear. 

Then, finally...

“...no.”

His voice was so small and soft, Rose couldn't help but chuckle quietly as she continued to brush his ear. “Didn't think so. But that's good. You're such an uptight, growly person, you should have some time to relax.”

When she was done brushing his right ear, Rose switched to the left, gently using the brush to smooth down the fuzz covering the outside of it. It was at that point that Dezel began to lilt slightly to one side, his tail finally loosening from where it curled around his crossed legs. Rose smirked and gave him an easy push to one shoulder, just to see what would happen, and was amused to see her hellion companion tip down against the blanket pile. Like a giant cat, Dezel slipped into a comfortable position on his side, wings tucked against his back and eyes closing as Rose switched back to brushing his hair.

“Sleepy?” Rose asked quietly when she was finished.

Dezel merely hummed softly, clearly too comfortable to move. Getting up, Rose managed to make her way back to the crates, setting the brush down beside the top hat before extinguishing the oil lamplight. Somehow, despite the darkness and even though she felt mildly tipsy, Rose made her way back to the cloth pile without tripping over anything. Laying down on the blankets alongside Dezel got a reaction she hadn't quite expected, however, the hellion suddenly getting up to slip away to the other side of the room.

“Hey,” she called softly. “You...you didn't have to leave, you know.”

“Didn't want to crowd you.” He was trying to settle on the stone floor about ten feet away.

“Do you really like sleeping on the bare ground, though?”

No answer. Rose frowned.

“Did you have somewhere else you slept before I ended up here?” she asked.

More silence. Rose's frown deepened. What a stubborn bastard. She started to get up, only stopping when Dezel finally responded.

“On the cloth pile.”

“So this was your bed first.” She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. While Rose hadn't been there long, it had still been over a long enough period that Dezel had spent a few nights sleeping on the cold, hard stone floor. She rubbed at one arm a little. “You're sure you don't want to come back over here? I don't mind.”

“I mind. I scare you, anyway. Better I stay over here.”

“And what if you don't really scare me anymore?”

“I should scare you.”

“Why?” Rose demanded, the question coming out louder than she intended. Swallowing after, she huffed out a sigh and made a conscious effort to lower her voice, though said managed effort did not last long. “Why should you? You've been looking after me since you took me from the altar. You could've eaten me, but you didn't. In fact, you're probably one of the only people left who even gives a damn what happens to me! Why should I be scared of the only ally I have?”

“_Because I'm a hellion._” Rolling over, Dezel faced her in the darkness, his silver eyes just barely visible across the darkness enshrouded gap between them. 

“_I don't care!_ Hellion or seraph or whatever you are, maybe you've been a better person to me than most of the humans I've ever known, alright!?” Gods, the alcohol was making her more emotional than usual. Rose cursed her poor decision making on that front and rubbed at her eyes with the backs of her hands in an effort to rid them of excess moisture before any tears could actually fall. “And maybe you're a big, stupid, stubborn moron, but maybe you're also more than the only ally I have. Maybe I'm starting to think of you as a friend and I haven't had a lot of those before!”

“Rose... Dammit, don't cry. I hate the sound of crying...”

“I'm trying not to, but I'm drunk and you're an idiot!”

“Tch, this is part of why I didn't want you getting into that damn wine...”

Dezel shifted and got up, approaching on all fours. As he crossed onto the blanket pile, Rose found her way to him before she could think better of it and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight, insistent embrace. Dezel froze, seemingly afraid to move. Almost hanging off him, Rose pressed her forehead to his jaw and sniffled, angry with him for being such a pain in the ass and frustrated with herself for losing her composure.

“You're stupid and I hate you,” she said, voice wavering. She cursed herself as a couple of tears finally managed to slip free.

Dezel swallowed and finally, if hesitantly, set a hand on her back. “Then let go of me.”

“No! I don't want to. And I don't think you want me to, either!”

“Rose...”

He sat down and she settled in his lap, arms still around his neck. Hunched over her, Dezel finally returned the embrace, though his efforts were more awkward, his wings rustling restlessly at his sides before finally folding down against his back. 

“And you called me stubborn,” he sighed.

“No one ever stays for long, okay? Only my dad ever did. Every other friend I tried to make eventually decided I was too strange, especially when I was little. I spent too much time talking about what everyone else called my imaginary friends.” Her grip on him tightened out of frustration as hot tears left damp trails down her cheeks to her jaw. “And then one day, it got hard to see them. They all disappeared and everyone said it was just because I finally grew up and stopped making up stories. Stories they said I created because of what I went through before my dad took me in.”

“You...were seeing seraphim. That's what it must've been.” Dezel swallowed and Rose felt his Adam's apple rise and fall as she pressed her face to his neck. “...what happened to you as a child, Rose?”

“I don't remember much of it. I just know some mercenaries found me as the only survivor of a town raid in Glaivend Basin. They found me wandering among the corpses and took me in until they reached Marlind, where my adoptive father – Brad – decided to take me in permanently when no one else would.”

Dezel stiffened and Rose felt his claws curl into the fabric against her back, though not hard enough to pierce it. Drawing back a little, she looked up at him in the dark, though his expression was difficult to discern with so little light.

“Dezel? Is something wrong?”

“No, it's... It's nothing. Just...the idea of a single child as the only survivor in the midst of so much human-created violence.” He began to ease her out of his lap and back onto the blankets. “Regardless, you need sleep.”

“Stay?” she asked hopefully, catching his hand before he could try to pull back again. “If just for tonight? It's cold and you're warm.”

Dezel shook his head, but relented, regardless. “So troublesome. Fine, but just for tonight.”

As he lay down on his side, Rose took her usual favorite blanket as a cover and scooted up against his front, tucking herself in so that her head leaned against his chest. Even as she got her way, however, she was aware of how her cheeks burned. She really was acting like a child, but she supposed she could blame the wine for most of it. 

“Hey, Dezel?” she asked, once both of them had gotten comfortable, Dezel with one arm wrapped around her.

“Mn, what?”

“If people telling me to stop talking about seraphim eventually caused me to stop seeing them, then how come I can still see you?”

“Your doubt probably only partially blocked your resonance, and hellions are not as difficult to see as seraphim.”

“So...you're saying that if you weren't a hellion...?”

“Then you probably wouldn't be able to see me.”

Rose fell silent a moment, mulling over that new information, even as the shared warmth generated by their close proximity began to lull her to sleep. Fighting to keep her eyes open just a bit longer, she placed her palm against Dezel's chest. He flinched a little, but then settled again quickly enough, probably just surprised by the gesture.

“Dezel?”

“What, Rose? I want to sleep.”

“I know. I just wanted to say that even though I don't really know why you're a hellion... Well, even for as selfish as this is going to sound, I'm glad I can see you.”

Shifting a little, Dezel uttered a soft sigh, his breath warm against the top of Rose's head. His eyes were probably already closed. “Goodnight, Rose.”

That he didn't want to discuss being a hellion didn't come as a shock and, for once, Rose didn't feel like forcing the issue. Likely it was for the best. Besides, she had gotten what she wanted for the night. She couldn't ask for much more than that.

“Goodnight, Dezel. See you in the morning.”

* * *

That Dezel was far more or a pushover than he could admit shouldn't have come as a surprise to Rose. One night spent snoozing alongside each other, curled up comfortably in the large cloth pile quickly turned to two and then three. Before long, it had been nearly a week, Rose filling her days with exercise both inside and outside of the temple to strengthen her nearly healed ankle. She got better and quicker at climbing the rope Dezel attached at the exit so she could come and go on her own. She helped Dezel forage for food in Volgran Forest, gathering berries, nuts, and roots. In the evenings after dinner, Rose would page through the various books she'd found in the temple chests, sometimes sitting with Dezel and reading him bits and pieces of passages regarding Glenwood's history and legends. Such material didn't interest Rose all that much, but it was something they could do together and Dezel seemed to enjoy it. Besides, it wasn't like he could read the books on his own.

Early in the morning on the seventh day they spent sleeping alongside one another, however, Rose awoke with a start, a gasp catching in her throat. As she lay in the darkness, curled against Dezel's chest as he continued to sleep quietly, she realized with a start that her cheeks were wet with tears. Reaching up, she carefully wiped them clear with both hands and tried to dredge up a reason as to why she might have been crying in her sleep.

The answer came only a moment later, floating hazily back to her through vague fragments of memory – she'd had a dream about the day she was found in Glaivend Basin.

“Rose...?”

She startled a second time and glanced up so see Dezel's chin tipped down toward her, the large hellion passing his breeze over her to check on her current state.

“I...I'm fine. I just had a bad dream, that's all,” she said quickly as she began to pull away from him. “I'll be okay in a minute.”

“Mn, alright.” As Rose sat up and settled into a cross-legged position on the bed, Dezel pushed himself upright and stretched like a cat, yawning widely before ambling over to the oil lamp to light it. “I'm going out to find breakfast.”

“Okay...” Rose watched him, the uneasy sensation that had settled in her chest refusing to dissipate and leaving her feeling oddly anxious. As he turned to exit the room, she held up one hand to stop him and got to her feet. “Hey, Dezel! Can you wait a minute?”

“Hn? Why?”

“I just... I want to see something real quick.”

Lowering himself into a crouch by the exit, Dezel waited while Rose lit the lamp and then made her way over, his mouth pulling into a concerned frown. Ignoring the way his blind eyes managed to follow her, unwilling to explain herself just yet, Rose stopped in front of her hellion companion before reaching out with both hands to touch the sides of his face. Almost immediately, Dezel jerked back with a growl.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, frown becoming a scowl. “Just because you want me next to you while you sleep doesn't mean you can touch me like that whenever you want!”

Rose cringed. “Sorry! I just wanted to see your eyes.”

“What for? You've seen them before.”

“I know, but not that well! Can you just hold still for a few seconds? Please?”

Dezel grumbled, but complied, settling in place while Rose hesitantly set her hands on his face again. Though his jaw was partially covered in hard, scale-like material, Dezel's cheeks were warm and soft. Rose ran the sides of her thumbs over them while looking past his shaggy bangs and into his half-lidded, silver eyes. 

“What color were your eyes before you went blind?” she asked carefully, her voice quiet out of respect.

“Green,” he rumbled softly, his foul mood fading somewhat. “Why?”

“Just realized suddenly that I didn't know and I got curious.” Rose took her hands from his face and stepped back. “Sorry. I'll wait here while you're out.”

Despite his lack of sight, Dezel eyed her before getting up to take his leave. “I'll be back shortly. Get a fire started in the meantime.”

“Alright.”

Rose stood in the doorway, watching in the dim light as Dezel loped on all fours toward the exit, scaled the wall and pushed the wooden barrier aside to leave the temple underground. Once she was sure he was gone and wouldn't be returning unexpectedly, she glanced back at the crate where the oil lamp and top hat sat, the light of the flame reflected in the golden medallions around the base of the headpiece. Heart crawling up into her throat, its beating quickened as she put all the pieces together, Rose cautiously approached the hat and picked it up to examine it more closely.

Dezel had asked at one point that she not touch the hat unless absolutely necessary. That it was important to him, despite a reluctance to state why. That Rose was breaking one of Dezel's few rules was not the reason for her increasingly frayed nerves, however. No, she was sure now that she had seen this hat once before and forgotten about it.

It had been in her dream, worn atop the head of a man with long white hair that ended in green tips, bundled into a loose ponytail. He had found her wandering among the corpses outside the remains of her hometown, one hand held out to her as she hid behind a broken-down wagon, trembling and crying. Though she was covered in dirt and blood, barely more than five years old, he had called to her, asking her to come to him. He wouldn't hurt her, he had said. He would help her.

Mouth dry, Rose turned the top hat in both hands, catching glimpses of her reflection in the medallions. It had to be the same hat. It was so unique, how could it be another?

_'It's alright, little one. I won't hurt you. Can you come out here?'_

“Who were you?” Rose whispered, her words mere utterances of breath between parted lips as she turned the hat over. Inside, there was a name written in ink on the maker's cloth tag. Rose's breath caught. “'Lafarga.'”

_'She's so dirty.'_

_'She is, but she'll look better once our friends find her and clean her up. Can you stay here with her while I guide them this way?'_

_'Yeah, I guess.'_

_'Good lad. Protect her, alright? I'm counting on you.'_

_'I will.'_

Rose's hands trembled as the memory roared back into her head, the bright green eyes of a boy only a little older than her meeting hers from behind his shaggy, two-toned bangs.

_'Are you hungry? Here. You can have my madeleines. Lafarga made them.'_

_His teeth were...sharp._

_She seized the little bag of cookies from the boy, devouring them with desperation borne out of starvation. It had been days since she'd last eaten much of anything. Before she could finish, she was crying again, tears burning streaks into the dust coating her face._

_'Hey...don't cry. I hate the sound of crying.'_

_Then she was apologizing and hugging him, the boy standing stock still, unsure of what to do next. She was lost and scared, tired, thirsty and hungry. She was sorry about crying. About being dirty. After a moment, he set his hands on her shoulders._

_'Sit here with me, okay? We'll stay under the broken wagon until the humans come.'_

_She nodded and they crawled under the overturned wagon, hiding in the shade afforded by one section that was propped up over a broken wheel and axel. Out of the heat of the sun and sheltered from the wind, she leaned against him, one hand searching his out. Their fingers intertwined and she closed her eyes, trying not to cry anymore._

The hat fell from Rose's hands to the floor. She soon followed, sinking to her knees as full realization sunk in, the full brunt of it almost too much for her to withstand.

“Dezel...”

It _had_ been him. That boy only a few years older than her who had been there alongside the man in the hat.

Seraphim. She had been saved by _wind seraphim._

Rose covered her mouth with both hands, shaking from head to toe, worried that if she dared to do more than breathe she would burst into tears. Did Dezel know? Did he remember that day? If he did, why hadn't he said anything? And what had happened to Lafarga?

_Deep breaths. One thing at a time. Just...breathe._

One way or another, Rose had to know the entire truth. But how to find out? Likely there was no other way, save to outright ask. She would have to confront Dezel about it and although she had no idea how he would handle it, she had a right to know.

She also knew then that she couldn't leave him behind, now. Some way or another, she had to find a way to help him after everything he had done to aid her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose attempts to confront Dezel about their shared past and both of them get more than they bargained for out of the encounter.

The day passed at an agonizingly slow pace. Rose spent most of it trying to work out in her head how she would approach the subject of first meeting Dezel in Glaivend Basin all those years ago, which caused her to appear distracted much of the time. Dezel grumbled about her lack of focus as they collected firewood and foraged for food later in the day, and in the afternoon she pricked her fingers twice on her sewing needle while patching up a few holes in some of the clothes that now made up her make-shift wardrobe. In the evening before dinner, Rose lost her place in reading aloud more than a few times, mistakes that earned frowns and narrow-eyed looks from her hellion companion. 

“You've been distracted all day,” he commented irritably as he escorted her out to the spring after their evening meal. “Try to focus so you don't end up tripping and falling as you get in and out of the water.”

“Sorry. I've just been thinking about stuff from my childhood today for some reason,” Rose mumbled back, in no mood to get into an argument with him. Approaching him with questions would be tougher if they were both worked up and upset.

Dezel said nothing in return but did rest a paw-like hand on her head briefly before settling in his usual place to wait for her while she bathed. It was a sign to her that his frustration was out of concern, at least. Rose almost reached out to him as his large, clawed hand slipped away from her, but stopped herself at the last second. No need to make the situation any more awkward than necessary.

Yet, hardly a half-hour later as they walked back toward the back temple entrance, hair still a bit damp, Rose found she couldn't hold back any longer.

“Hey, Dezel? Can I ask you something?”

The big hellion at her side grunted in response. “Yeah, what?”

“Do seraphim...how do they, um...arrive in the world? Are they born and have childhoods like humans do?”

“Seraphim aren't born from a set of parents like humans. They're born from the earthpulse – the land's spiritual lifestream – as toddlers at best. Why?”

Rose could feel his wind swirling around her, both curious and cautious. “Oh. So what was your childhood like? Did you live somewhere else other than here?”

“I spent a lot of time traveling. Most wind seraphim are restless. They don't like staying in one place very long.”

“Do you still feel that way now?”

Dezel had no immediate response, the two of them walking in silence for several seconds before he answered. It was almost long enough to make Rose regret asking. “Yes...and no. It's difficult to explain.”

“Oh...” Rose pursed her lips and tried to settle on how she wanted to ask her next question. She was hedging into touchy territory now. “Did you travel by yourself or did you have friends who you stayed with? You know, traveling companions. Like humans usually have. I'd think you would, at least when you were very young.”

“I had one friend who was like an older brother to me. A mentor. Sometimes we would stick with groups of humans. Sometimes not.”

By that point, they had reached the entrance. Pushing the wooden barrier aside, Dezel took Rose up into his arms and jumped down through the hole, setting her back on her feet before climbing up to close up the barrier. Standing near the remains of that morning's cooking fire, gaze on the pile of ashes, Rose waited for Dezel to come back down again, her heartbeat starting to quicken. 

“That mentor friend of yours,” Rose continued carefully as Dezel rejoined her, landing in a crouch nearby. “Was he... Was his name Lafarga?”

She didn't dare look directly at him, instead only vaguely turning her head to the side with Dezel at her back. Regardless, she could still somehow feel his blind gaze boring into her, the air around her suddenly turning cold. The silence between them was deafening and when Dezel finally spoke, his voice was just as frigid as the air between them.

“How do you know that name? Did you touch the hat after I told you not to?”

“I didn't mean to!” Rose retorted as she finally turned to face him, voice pitching up with sudden desperation. “I mean, I did, but! Only because I had a dream about him! I had to know!”

Dezel growled, rising up to his full height and looming over her. With the last rays of evening light filtering in behind him through the cracks in the barrier overhead, he looked even larger than usual. His winds circled her, ice-cold and seeping into the blanket drawn around her shoulders.

“I think it's time for you to leave, Rose. You aren't welcome here, anymore. I want you out at sunrise!”

“What? No! I'm not leaving you here by yourself! Not after remembering everything! You were there as a boy, weren't you? You and Lafarga found me wandering that battlefield! Dezel, don't you remember? That was you, wasn't it?” She was shuffling back a few steps as she spoke, uncertain as to what might happen next. The way Dezel's fingers were flexing, the way his tail was lashing... She clutched the blanket tighter around herself.

“It doesn't matter!” Dezel snarled back, teeth bared and mane bristling. “I'm not that person anymore! And my patience and hospitality have run out!”

“All because of our shared past!? Dezel, what's gotten into you?”

“You were never supposed to be here more than a few days, Rose! I want you gone one way or another, even if it means I have to kill and eat you!”

“I don't believe that! You wouldn't!” Rose shot back, but Dezel was already lowering himself into a crouch, silver eyes narrowing dangerously. “Dezel, what the hell is wrong with you? We're friends!”

“I'm a hellion!” he spat, wings tucking down. “And we were never friends... Now swear to me you'll be gone at daybreak. Swear to me now, Rose!”

“No... No, I won't! I'm not going anywhere, you stubborn bastard!”

“Stupid girl... Looks like I'll get to eat you after all, then!”

Rose shrieked as Dezel lunged at her, barely avoiding the big hellion as he tried to catch her like a cat after a mouse. Scrambling away from him as he skidded over the stone floor, Rose nearly tripped over the blanket she used as a towel as she retreated toward Dezel's quarters. Behind her, she could hear talons scraping over the stones as Dezel regained purchase and tore after her with a terrifying, bone-rattling roar of anger. Releasing the blanket, knowing it would only slow her down, Rose sprinted for the room entrance, clad in only her old, tattered nightgown.

“Go back to where you came from!” Dezel roared after her. “GET OUT OF MY HOME!”

But Rose knew she could not. Returning to Lastonbell would surely be a death sentence. And where else could she go on her own? She would never make it to Pendrago without stopping in Lastonbell, and attempting to traverse Glaivend Basin on her own to make it to Marlind or Ladylake would surely be the end of her. If Dezel really did intend to kill and eat her, at least he would be likely to do it quickly. It would be less of a painful end than dying at the hands of bandits or being chewed up by other hellions.

Rose fell as she hit the end of the blanket pile in Dezel's quarters. Before she could regain her feet and turn fully toward the hellion behind her, Dezel skidded into her with a snarl and got one heavy paw on her, shoving her down. Pushing her back, he pinned her in a sitting position against the back wall.

“Dezel, stop!” Rose cried out, her hands catching and tugging at his thick forearm, tears starting to stream down the sides of her face. “I just want to help you as you helped me! There has to be a way!”

“And I want you to get the hell away from me!” he roared back, fangs flashing in the dim light. “I WANT YOU OUT! Last chance, so say you'll leave, you damn human! _SAY IT!_”

Trembling like a leaf in the wind in Dezel's grip, Rose managed to shake her head once before bursting into broken sobs, her nails scraping over his arm. “NO! I won't! I don't want to leave you! Even with you acting like this, I won't!”

Dezel trembled with what Rose could only assume was rage, his grip on her tightening. Mouth twisting into an ugly scowl, he ran his long tongue over his lips. Then, he was lunging forward, jaws open and lips drawn back to reveal his two rows of triangular-shaped teeth. Rose squeezed her eyes shut and felt her breath hitch as he caught her by the throat, some of his weight bearing down on her as he prepared to tear out her jugular.

...yet the final, crushing blow never came. Those hungry jaws never snapped shut, Dezel merely holding Rose in place, his pointed teeth so tantalizingly close to digging into her flesh. He breathed heavily, gasping as he was able, and as Rose found her own ability to breathe again, realized from the sounds coming out of the hellion that he was struggling not to shed tears, himself.

“Dezel...” His name was barely more than a shaky whisper on her lips.

He whimpered softly and a few of his teeth pricked her neck. Rose winced, then slowly, carefully reached one hand up to set it gently on the side of his head. He shuddered under her touch, breath coming in frustrated huffs through his nose.

“If you have to kill me, then you can do that,” she said softly, a few more of her own tears slipping down the sides of her face, dripping onto his. “But I'm not leaving. I don't really have anywhere else to go and I can't stand the thought of leaving you behind. I remember that day in the basin, now... I remember sitting with you under that broken down wagon. I remember you letting me hold your hand. Why would I leave you now? I can't... I can't do that...”

He was crying. She could feel his tears dripping down onto her nightgown, dampening the fabric. Carefully, she stroked his hair and horns.

“You don't really want to hurt me, do you?”

“No...” His response was little more than a hoarse croak as he finally took his jaws from her neck. “Why do you have to be like this, Rose? Why did you have to remember?”

“You've known all this time, haven't you?”

Dezel shook his head a little. “I didn't. I just knew you smelled familiar. Your scent was...nostalgic. It wasn't until you mentioned being found by mercenaries that I realized who you are.”

One hand coming to rest on the side of his damp face, Rose watched him through her own tear blurred vision. Even though he had just threatened her life, she found she couldn't dredge up even the smallest shred of anger. He was hurting for some reason. They both were, really. “Why didn't you want me to remember? And why can't I stay here with you? Are you afraid I'll get sick, here?”

“Afraid you'll get sick. And that my broken blessing will hurt you like it hurt Lafarga.”

“What do you mean?”

“Seraphim are supposed to bring good fortune to humans and strength to the land through our blessings. To whatever is within our domains. But mine doesn't for some reason. And I didn't realize that until it was too late.”

“What does it do...?”

“It summons malevolence. It's probably why I'm not so far gone as a hellion since most malevolence drawn to my despair cycles back out of me again.”

“But not enough for you to change back...”

“No. I'm too tainted from exposure, already.”

Rose stroked his cheek with the side of her thumb, feeling his tears as they slid down that side of his face and traversed the curve of her palm's heel. “Talk to me, Dezel. If you want me to leave, I at least want to understand why.”

“The mercenaries we were traveling with were all killed two years ago by soldiers in Pendrago. The Rolance Royal family had extended an offer of permanent employment, which would mean our travels with our human friends would end there, and I... I didn't want it to be that way.” Dezel swallowed audibly and pulled away, hunkering down just out of reach, knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped about his legs. “Because of that, I accidentally cursed part of the royal family and their guards. The Imperial Prince was murdered and the blame was placed on my friends. When the hellion guards came for them, they weren't a match for so much power...and they all died.”

Rose was silent a moment, at a loss for words. When she finally found her tongue again, all she could think of was to ask the obvious. “And what happened to Lafarga?”

“He was overtaken and killed by hellions. I couldn't save him, especially not when they'd managed to blind me in the middle of the fight. And it was my fault that there were hellions there to attack him and the others in the first place.” Dezel wrapped his tail around himself, his voice wavering. “It was my fault. Everything was my fault. I didn't want to lose our friends and then because of me, everyone died!”

In not wanting to lose anyone, Dezel had lost everyone. Rose's chest ached at the thought. She couldn't fathom harboring that much sorrow and guilt, all at the same time. “That...was when you turned, wasn't it?”

“Despair consumed me. I turned and...and I fled, just wanting somewhere to hide, like a damn coward. Maybe even for someone to kill me and put me out of my misery. To punish me for what I'd caused. But aside from other, weaker hellions, there wasn't anyone to get the job done. So I ended up here. In hiding. Not realizing that idiotic cult would invade the place periodically and disturb what little peace I have left!”

“And now you're worried that the same thing that happened to those people in Pendrago will happen to me, somehow. Because of your curse.”

Dezel nodded a little and curled in on himself further. “I don't know what I'll do if it happens again. Especially to you. Someone Lafarga and I saved years ago.” He paused as his voice began to crack with pent up emotion, drawing a few deep breaths before he dared continue. “You need to leave... You don't deserve ending up like me!”

“Nothing says that I will for sure, though! You said already that I'm pure of heart, right? Shouldn't that help? And what if we could find a way to turn you back? The books I found here talk about people in ancient times who were able to chase out darkness. Maybe some of them are still around!”

“It might, but I can't say for sure! And I know, you've read those passages out loud! But no one's seen a Shepherd in a long time. They probably don't exist anymore. Especially if the legendary sword in Ladylake means anything.”

Rose blinked, the mention of a possible lead causing her to forget the minor stinging pain in her neck momentarily. “Legendary sword? What's that about?”

“Some sword stuck in a pedestal. Never seen it, but Lafarga...” Dezel trailed off, needing to swallow before forcing himself to continue. “Lafarga told me about it, once. That whoever can draw the damn thing out has what it takes to be a Shepherd.”

“So what you're saying is that if we go to Ladylake, we might find answers with that sword! Maybe I could be the one to pull it free, even!” Even Rose had to admit the idea was a hell of a longshot, but the second Dezel had mentioned it, she knew she wouldn't be able to toss it aside. Any chance was one worth taking at that point, wasn't it?

Dezel's eyes, despite still being wet with tears, narrowed behind his shaggy bangs. “You can't be serious. The journey is a long one from here and there's no guarantee that would even work! Even if it did, would you really want to be a Shepherd? You'd have to devote your life to fighting hellions and saving humans!”

Rose shrugged. “Well, it's not like I'm doing much else with my life right now, right? I lost everything in Lastonbell. Even what little family I had. So, you know, maybe a fresh start being something new is what I should aim for.”

“Doing something like that shouldn't be taken lightly! This isn't a game, Rose!”

“I know that!” The sharp edge in her voice shocked Dezel into curling further in on himself and, if she was being honest, Rose herself, as well. Arms wrapped around herself, she sighed shakily and forced herself to take a deep breath before saying anything further. “I'm just... I'm trying to come up with something other than sitting here and doing nothing about anything. And you have to let me make my own choices, okay? I know you mean well, Dezel, but what good is my life if I can't decide what I want to do with it?”

“I was just...” Dezel trailed off, lowering his blind gaze to the floor by his clawed feet, his ears drooping beneath his curled horns. “I...I was just trying to protect you. Even if it meant scaring you away and making me hate me so you'd never be tempted to come back. You deserve better than this and I just want you to know that a choice like trying to become a Shepherd isn't... It's not going to be easy.”

“Most things in life aren't easy, Dezel. In fact, my life's probably been harder than many people's but...I don't like to dwell on that too much. And since being different led me to this point, maybe it's a sign that I am meant to do something more. I'm sure not afraid to try.”

Dezel nodded but said nothing in return. Rose watched him in silence a moment, then couldn't help but smile a bit.

“You really are afraid for me, aren't you? You big softie.”

Again, there was no response, and Rose could see his entire form trembling from where she sat. Tentatively, she held out one hand in his direction. “You can come back over here if you want. I'm still kind of frustrated but I promise I'm not mad at you.”

“I shouldn't,” he finally managed, voice weak and small. “I've screwed up again. I should just...go for a while. Leave you alone.”

“You can if you really want to, but I'd like it if you'd stay.”

The air around her stirred a little, with what felt like nervous hesitancy. Dezel's blind gaze shifted from Rose to the door, then back to her again. Hand still held out, she offered him a fond smile. 

Slowly, he unfurled his tail and eased himself forward onto all fours, creeping toward her like a scolded dog, head down. When he was close enough to touch, he came to a stop, still uncertain. Unable to help herself, Rose touched the side of his face then took hold of one horn and gently tugged him closer. With a shaky half sob, Dezel all but collapsed against her, burying his face against her chest and wrapping his arms around her, the rest of him huddled up as close as he could manage. As Rose hugged him back and stroked his hair, he finally broke down into shuddering sobs.

“I'm sorry,” he managed in between wavering breaths, “I'm a fool. I scared you for no reason and ended up hurting you...”

“You didn't hurt me, not much,” Rose said quietly. “Just a few light pricks to the neck. I can hardly feel them.”

“Still, I can heal you. Let me...?”

Rose nodded and Dezel shifted enough to touch two fingers to the side of her neck. She winced a little as one of the soft pads on his fingers contacted a prick mark, but otherwise held perfectly still as a soft green light enveloped her. Slowly, the pain dissipated and Rose felt her fatigue lifting, as though her exhaustion from the earlier sudden chase was being taken from her shoulders.

“I promise I won't do anything like that again.” Taking his hand from Rose's neck, Dezel swallowed thickly, sounding as though he were trying to speak around a lump caught in his throat. “I never wanted to actually hurt you. I thought if I came within an inch of killing you – of scaring you enough to truly fear me – you'd finally relent, but...”

“But you didn't bank on me being so stubborn about it, huh?” Rose couldn't help but smile a little as she brushed the hair from his face and the tears from his cheeks. 

“I guess I didn't.”

“The truth is that I don't have an easy time letting go of people, either. Probably because of everything I went through as a child and then a teenager. It was difficult for me to keep friends. My father was the only one who ever stood by me without wavering, and now that he's gone...” Rose paused  
as her own throat grew tight, the corners of her eyes pricking with unshed tears. “It's part of why I don't want to leave you. And I don't care how selfish that sounds, either. I _like_ being around you.”

“Rose...”

Cupping his jaw in both hands, she angled Dezel's head up a little to where she could place a kiss against his forehead. His eyes closed at the contact, his breath catching before he let it out in a soft if shaky sigh. 

“I...I don't really want you to leave, either. It's what I was afraid of,” he breathed weakly. “Growing attached.”

“We'll stick together, okay? We'll find a way to change you back, and I'll figure out what I should be doing with myself. Some way or another, we'll both be alright.”

“I'm afraid for you, but I do want to stay with you.” Dezel squeezed his eyes shut, fresh tears slipping down the sides of his face and onto Rose's fingers where she still cupped his face. “I want to protect you. And walk with you. And even let you brush my hair if you want, I just...”

Rose let out a small, soft laugh, the sound of it interrupted at the end by a small sob. She hugged him close, kissing his wet cheeks, drinking in the sound of his deep, shaky breaths as he tried and failed to stop the flow of tears. At his core, Dezel was a sweet, loyal person, even after becoming a hellion. That much of himself he had managed to hang onto. Or perhaps it was just Rose herself that brought that part of him back to the surface once more. Either way, she couldn't help but appreciate his vulnerability.

“I want you to stay with me, too,” she said and kissed his cheeks again. “My big, grumpy but soft-at-heart guardian half-dragon.”

Dezel pressed closer, turning his head toward her, bumping his forehead gently against hers...then tilted his head a little and kissed her.

She hadn't expected it, the touch of his lips against hers sending a little shock right up her spine and causing her heart to flutter wildly in her chest. The moment of hesitation on her part was enough to make Dezel pull back, panic written on his face, as though he'd gone too far. But Rose wasn't about to let the mood break. For as hungry for affection as Dezel was, Rose herself was also starved for it. Taking him by the horns, she pulled him back in and kissed him in turn, heart leaping in her chest as Dezel moaned against her mouth.

“Rose, I-”

“Don't you dare apologize,” she warned breathlessly, mere inches between them. 

His cheeks were flushed pink, his eyes still glassy with tears. “You're sure you want this? I got carried away in the moment...”

Hands slipping down to the sides of the neck, she tugged at him again. “I don't just want this, I want you. Now shut up and kiss me again.”

He pressed in and she leaned back further, running her fingers through his hair while they kissed again, humming softly as she savored the contact between them. She could tell Dezel was on the inexperienced side, but it didn't really matter at the moment. If they kept going, he would get better at it. And Rose did want to keep going, only breaking their more lengthy kisses long enough to draw air and alternate with quicker, more shallow presses of her lips against his to grant him breathing room, as well.

Still, it only took a minute or two before Rose wanted more, and she broke one particularly long, deep kiss to touch her lips to Dezel's cheek before urging him to tilt his head so she could kiss and nibble at his jawline and throat. Dezel groaned in response, shivering and thumping his tail against the floor in appreciation.

“You really have been holding back, haven't you?” she asked teasingly between soft bites to his neck. “Making sure you've kept your paws to yourself, even while letting me sleep up against you.”

“I told you,” he breathed, interrupted by a whimper as her teeth found a particularly sensitive spot, “I didn't want to get attached!”

Rose laughed a little and nuzzled his throat before giving him another lingering kiss. “Didn't do a very good job, did you? That's okay, though.”

“If...if you're sure...”

“I wouldn't be kissing you like this if I wasn't.”

Truth be told, Rose could not be sure yet if what she felt for Dezel was love. She had, after all, only known real, deep love through one other person in her life, and that had been the platonic, familial love she shared with Brad. The short flings she'd had with barely boyfriends and one girlfriend had been only that – a couple months long at absolute best with sex that felt like they were either just testing the waters or dealing with their teenage hormones. Nothing had ever lasted, not once her latest significant other heard one too many rumors about Rose or was pressured by family and friends to break the relationship off. 

But Rose knew she was lonely and that Dezel felt the same. And likewise, she knew that this beast of a dragon man had been kinder to her than almost everyone else she'd ever met. He was something of a stern grouch and uptight as hell, but she attributed much of that to his situation as a hellion and his desire to protect her. Even now, however, he was melting against her under her ministrations, body sagging down over trembling limbs while she lavished attention on his neck and jaw, working around the patches of scales and chitlin-like armor. 

“How about you roll over onto your back and get comfortable?” Rose suggested as she paused in her offerings of affection, one hand briefly stroking the back of his neck. “You sound and look like your arms are about to give out.”

Dezel grunted in response and pushed away from her, shifting his wings and folding them in enough to turn and roll onto his back on her left side with his head and shoulders propped against a pile of cloth backed by the wall. Getting up herself, Rose lit the nearby lamp and then climbed onto Dezel, straddling his sides and leaning down over his chest to place another soft kiss against his lips. Hesitantly, Dezel set his large hands against her back, his touch surprisingly easy and delicate for someone who could probably break a man in half. Rose attributed it to his uncertainty and clearly shaking nerves, though; this was clearly new territory for him and he seemed terrified that he was bound to make a mistake.

“You can kiss me back, you know,” she assured him with a fond smile. “The same way I've been kissing you.”

“I know that,” Dezel huffed, face flushed, though Rose wasn't entirely sure that he did. She giggled a little, causing his winds to stir restlessly around her. He licked his lips, nervous. “I've just never done this before. And my teeth are sharp. Sharper than yours.”

“You're doing fine so far and where you're lacking, it's not anything more practice won't fix. And I do like a little biting here and there. I wouldn't have nibbled on you like I did if I didn't.”

Ears tipped back, twitching here and there with anxious energy, Dezel turned his blind gaze up at her. “Just tell me if I hurt you on accident.”

“I will. If I don't tug on those ears of yours, instead.” Despite her words, Rose's tone was teasing, and she hoped her new partner picked up on that much, at least.

Dezel pressed one hand against her back and Rose leaned in, tilting her chin up to grant him access. His breath was warm against her skin as he placed a tentative kiss against her throat and she sighed quietly to let him know that she approved. Another kiss followed, then another, followed by a gentle nip of sharp, triangular teeth. Rose shivered and got her hands up alongside his head, one pressed to the back of his neck to encourage him, the other stroking one of his long ears, feeling over the short, soft fur that covered it. Dezel rumbled quietly and hugged her closer, licking her neck before administering several slow, soft kisses here and there to determine where Rose would appreciate the most attention. She sighed and hummed in turn, helping him to find her favored areas and discover how she preferred they be touched.

“Your mouth feels good,” she murmured, resting her chin against his head while he sucked at a spot just above one collarbone. “And I like that rumbling sound you're making. It's nice.”

Dezel paused briefly to give her another soft lick with his warm, velvet tongue, one hand kneading briefly against her back like the paw of an overly large feline. “It's new to me. The sound, I mean. Not one I've made before.”

“It's sort of like a purr. Deep and gentle.” She rubbed the tip of his ear between her fingers, working a little moan out of him. “But I like that sound, too.”

“Hard not to make them when you keep touching me like that...”

“You make it sound like I was complaining about those noises.”

Even in the dim light provided by the oil lamp, the flushed tint of Dezel's face wasn't difficult to make out. He grunted softly and pressed his face against Rose's neck, hugging her closer. “I know you aren't, but...” He grumbled out something unintelligible, the words muffled against her skin and nightgown before merely sighing in resignation and speaking up more. “It's embarrassing.”

“It's cute. And I don't think you should be embarrassed over a few nice little noises that tell me you're enjoying yourself, even if you are supposed to be a big, scary hellion,” Rose said with a smile, one hand still fondling that same ear. Fingers slipping up higher, she massaged around the base of it, earning a soft sigh in return. “You might've become a hellion because of sorrow and despair, Dezel, but does that mean you can't enjoy yourself at all? Or that what you went through means you can't find pleasure in anything, anymore?”

Dezel said nothing, though Rose heard him swallow around a shakily drawn breath. Likely a sign of indecision, even for as far as they'd already gone in the last few minutes alone.

“It sounds to me like what happened wasn't entirely your fault,” she went on carefully, her fingers still at work around the base of his ear, “And that you were punished after feeling more love than you knew how to handle. In particular, love for people who never even knew you were there and couldn't return it entirely. You're not a bad person, Dezel. You're not someone who doesn't deserve something better than this. Or someone who should feel guilty for feeling good for once.”

“I suppose maybe I've forgotten what it's like to be happy,” he mumbled, barely audible. “It feels...so strange.”

Leaning back a little, Rose set a hand on Dezel's jaw and urged him to turn his blind gaze up toward her. Using her other hand, she gently brushed his bangs aside so the low lamplight could catch the pale color of his glossed over eyes. “If it helps, all this makes me happy, too. And I think we're allowed to have this. Neither of us has anything else left and maybe that should be a reason for us to be sad, but my father always taught me to appreciate what we do have, even if it's not much. And I love the sound of your happiness, as sappy as that sounds.”

Dezel set a hand over hers, his larger one dwarfing hers easily. Eyes closing briefly, he made a low noise that sounded like a barely-there, dry chuckle. “It is sappy. But...nice. I suppose I can try to be less embarrassed about it. And not hold back.”

“I'd like that. And I promise I won't hold back, either. That way you know when you're doing something right.”

She leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to his lips, then sighed as he pulled her closer again and renewed his attempts to shower her neck and collarbones with affection. Attempts that proved successful in little time at all, the touch of his lips sending shivers down her spine and sparking a growing need in her lower middle. Tangling the fingers of one hand in Dezel's hair, Rose held him close, encouraging him further. However, it wasn't long before a rising sense of frustration accompanied her need; the tattered edge of her old nightgown provided a barrier over her chest, one that Dezel seemed hesitant to cross.

“Remember when I got mad at you for possibly peeking at me with no clothes on?” Rose asked, a brief pause following the question in which she allowed herself a soft moan, Dezel nipping at her neck. “Consider that a non-issue, now, if you want.”

“A non-issue?”

Reaching down between them, Rose tugged her nightgown up, heat rising in her cheeks as she did so. The action removed what little was between them, leaving her sitting bare against Dezel's middle. Despite her usual self-assured ways much of the time, Rose was not without her moments of uncertainty, and thus for a moment she couldn't help but tense up briefly as Dezel's winds passed over her. Cheeks flushed, she waited for him to do something – _anything_ – to keep things moving, but the startled expression on his face made it clear that he was suddenly either at a loss or too unsure of himself to make the next move.

So Rose did the first thing that came to mind in such an awkward situation – she seized his horns and closed the gap between them, unceremoniously shoving his face between her breasts and hugging his head to her after, eyes tightly closed. In hindsight roughly three seconds following, she realized it might not have been the wisest course of action, especially as Dezel only seemed to be locking up further. It was too much, too fast. She should probably just apologize for rushing the situation and let him go before it got any worse.

But then he moved, turning his head to rest the side of it against her chest the best he was able. A bit of a feat, given the way his horns curled against his head. From what little she could see of his face, he was beet red, but the way he hugged her to him sent the message that he was adjusting and accepting of the sudden shift.

“...I can hear your heartbeat.”

Rose blinked in mild surprise, then set a hand on the back of his neck, her mouth curving in a small smile. “Do you like that?”

“Yeah.” 

“First time hearing a human's heartbeat, I guess?”

He pulled back a little, nodding, then placed a tender kiss against the center of her chest. “It's a strong sound. Quick, like a bird's wings in the wind.”

Rose couldn't help but giggle a little. “Probably beating a little faster than normal is why, if I'm honest.”

“Nervous? Didn't think you would be.”

“A little, maybe. Even though I've been with others before. Besides, being intimate like this usually does increase people's heart rates. But I think it's kind of a nice feeling sometimes, even if it does feel like I've got a bird caught in my rib cage.”

Dezel hummed softly and kissed her chest again. “I like that analogy... My little bird.”

Before Rose could respond, she found the ability to form a coherent reply fading as Dezel licked at her chest. Hot tongue sliding over one nipple, he purred as he sampled her taste, teasing her breast until the nipple perked into an almost painfully hardened nub. Rose wriggled her toes and leaned into the attention, eyes closing as she reveled in the sharp twinges coursing through her nerves, hand pressing harder against the back of Dezel's head. 

“You taste far too good,” he rumbled around one last lick before taking her into his mouth, sucking at her all-too-tight nipple.

Rose shifted against him, the tingling sensation in her loins spiking again as she groaned his name out. She rubbed at his ears with both hands, stroking the short, soft fur and massaging at their bases, causing his purr to grow louder.

“Still tempted to eat me?” she breathed, chin resting on the top of his head. 

“Very,” he murmured before giving her another lick. “But I won't. I like holding and kissing you too much.”

Still, it seemed as though Dezel couldn't quiet resist filling his mouth with her taste, not if the way he took her back in was any indicator, opening his jaws wide enough to get a large portion of her breast inside it, his tongue rolling around it eagerly. It was yet another reminder of how much larger he was, though a damned welcome one, at that. Rose couldn't help but grind her hips down against him in response, reveling in the way his embrace tightened possessively around her.

As Dezel took to licking the other side of her chest, apparently determined to grant it the same amount of attention, Rose couldn't help but attempt to slip a hand down between them to relieve her own needs further. One finger finding her slit, she began to rub at herself, unable to keep from gasping a few times as heat welled up in her lower half.

Suddenly, with a grunt, Dezel shifted, easing himself down into a more inclined position. Rose placed her other hand against the blanket-covered floor alongside his head to compensate and help hold herself up but soon found that she was able to free up her other hand as Dezel got one large hand around behind her, palm on her bare hindquarters while his index finger pressed up against her wet pussy and began to rub. Her hips jerked at the unexpected sensation, but soon enough Rose was pushing down and back against his hand, enjoying the soft touch of his finger pad against her folds while his mouth remained occupied with her breasts. Rose found herself panting a little as he suckled and moaned against her skin, all the affection only serving to make her even more desperate for some kind of release. Her need was building too quickly, leaving her whining and wriggling against her hellion companion.

Even as he finished toying with her breasts, however, Dezel didn't seem to be in any real hurry to proceed further, taking the hand she'd been using to stimulate herself in his own and licking her digits. As he took to sucking on her index finger, Rose whined louder still, hips tilting and jerking back. By that point, she almost didn't care if that finger of his had a claw on the end of it or not. If she had to, she was ready to end up with it inside her if that meant relieving the almost agonizing pressure in her loins. The thought of that thick pad on the tip of it pressing against her walls was almost enough to make her try it with hardly a second thought.

“Dezel! Gods!” She pushed back against his hand again, hoping to get the message across.

He hummed and abandoned her hand, wriggling further down and taking his own hand from her slit so he could elevate her more, kissing his way to her stomach. The loss of direct stimulation was frustrating at first, but it dawned on Rose soon enough that Dezel was dipping ever lower, pushing her ever higher, if bit by bit. His choice of direction was somewhat surprising, as by this point she'd have expected him to simply undo his pants and finish the job that way. Then again, maybe she was overestimating hellion anatomy. Maybe he didn't have anything to do that with...? Dezel was a seraph before turning into a hellion, and Rose recalled him saying that seraphim weren't born into the world from a set of parents in the same manner of humans, so...

“You're sure you want to do that?” she managed, shifting one hand up to brace against the wall behind him. “You haven't done this before, right?”

“I haven't, but I'm willing to try if you think you can trust me.” He shifted again and lay back, practically parallel to the floor. His hands came to rest on her hips where she sat on his chest, thumbs gently massaging the sides of her lower abdomen. “And I promise to be mindful of my teeth.”

Rose nodded after a moment, though there was no denying the nervous fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Yeah, I trust you.”

Dezel offered her what she interpreted as a light, affectionate squeeze to the hips, then shifted her one last time so that she was properly positioned. Lifting his head, he placed a few kisses over her slit, sending an anticipatory shiver through her from head to toe. Then his warm, wet tongue was lapping at her folds and pressing in to explore further. 

Rose jolted and leaned forward, bracing herself with one hand against the wall while the other came to rest on the top of Dezel's head, her fingers becoming lost in between the shaggy silver-white strands. He was taking his time, tasting her, testing her, licking her slowly and carefully to help build her pleasure little by little. At the same time, the depth and volume of his purr increased, reverberating in his chest and throat and up through Rose's hindquarters and thighs. Breathing shaky, interrupted by moans as her breath caught with every other lick of Dezel's lightly textured, lizard-like tongue, Rose tangled her fingers further in his hair and scratched gently at his scalp to encourage him.

“You're so warm and wet,” Dezel rumbled, his paw-like hands kneading against the soft flesh of her hips and thighs. “It's enough to make my stomach growl...”

“The wet part is your fault, you know,” Rose breathed before tensing again as he pressed his tongue against her clit. “This isn't my first time, but that mouth of yours–!”

“Good to know this tongue is good for something, then...”

Rose was about to issue a retort about how it was good for many things, she was certain, when said tongue suddenly wormed its way up inside her. Dezel elevated her further, helping support her on her knees with both hands while he rolled his long tongue in and out of her, wriggling it against her walls and using the textured side of it to rub her in ways that made her toes curl hard. 

“D-Dezel!”

The hand tangled in his hair withdrew to grip one of the curving horns on the top of his head, Rose shuddering and gasping as the hellion beneath her continued to tongue fuck her with rapidly growing enthusiasm. No sex she'd ever had before could quite compare with this; the feeling of six inches worth of dragon tongue being thrust up inside her, its tip rolling teasingly around her entrance when it was withdrawn, was more than she'd been prepared for. As Dezel pulled it free one last time and returned to rubbing and flicking her clit with that slightly forked end, Rose's ability to cling to the edge crumbled completely, her eyes shutting tightly as she came with a series of gasps and a weak, trembling groan. Beneath her, fluids dripped down over Dezel's neck but he didn't seem to care as he continued to lick her, clawed hands holding her fast so that her want to jerk her hips didn't accidentally ruin those last few glorious moments of affection.

When she was finally released, Rose barely managed to force herself to one side in a clumsy dismount of sorts, tumbling down onto the blankets alongside Dezel. She breathed heavily, laying on her side while she watched Dezel roll onto his side to face her, though he was preoccupied with wiping himself off with one hand, then shamelessly licking his palm and fingers. Her face felt hot, cheeks flushing as she realized just how much her companion enjoyed her taste.

Then again, perhaps she did not, given how much his need-driven approach surprised her a moment later. 

Still rumbling deeply, Dezel used one paw to ease her legs apart, head dipping down to place a few kisses against the insides of her thighs before his mouth found her pussy again. Rose barely resisted the urge to jerk her hips upward, gasping and gripping at the blankets on either side of her as Dezel ran his tongue over her folds and pressed inward to suck at her clit. His paws gripped her hips and ass to hold her still while he ate her out again, soft little muffled moans finding their way out of him while he dragged her back toward another orgasm.

Rose found she was at a loss for words for once, having to settle for loud groans of approval as she rubbed a heel over part of Dezel's back and brought a hand up to grip one of his horns again. Her entire body felt heated, her lower half tingling with almost paralyzing amounts of pleasure. All of it building until it finally cascaded down over her as she came a second time, her grip on Dezel's horn and the blankets tightening until her knuckles nearly turned white. Then she was coming down the other side, hips twitching as Dezel gave her a few last licks before he pulled away to briefly kiss and nibble gently at her legs.

“You greedy bastard,” Rose breathed from where she lay, eyes half-lidded while she watched Dezel settle back to lick his own face and paws. “Never thought you'd be so into something like that...”

“Are you complaining? Not my fault you're a tasty little human.”

“Not really. Though after all that, I'm not sure if could complain if you did suddenly decide to eat me up entirely!”

“As I said before, I won't. But having you as breakfast in bed in the morning might be nice...”

Cheeks flushing again, Rose was about to admit that she certainly wouldn't mind providing that opportunity when she noticed something intriguing about her hellion host, namely a sizable bulge in his pants below his belts. Eyes wide with renewed curiosity and some definite lust, Rose found herself giving serious reconsideration to the idea that seraphim and hellions might not have anything aside from their hands and mouths for fun between the sheets.

“So it's your turn now, right?” she asked hopefully as she pushed herself into a sitting position. “I can't be the only one to reap the benefits from a little fooling around, you know.”

“Doesn't need to be my turn for anything.” Getting up on all fours, Dezel began to pad toward the doorway, tail swishing behind him. “I'm going to step out for a bit, so you might as well get to sleep.”

Despite still feeling weak in the legs, Rose forced herself to her feet to stalk after him. “You're kidding, right? You can't tell me all that tongue action you used on me didn't do _something_ for you!”

“If it did or didn't, that's not really your concern.”

“How is it not my concern? Dezel, this isn't how these things are supposed to work!”

Before Dezel could make it entirely out the door, Rose managed to seize him by the tail, digging her bare heels in and yanking back on it. The unexpected resistance caused Dezel to stop short with a growl, the hellion glancing back over one shoulder, his winds swirling briefly around Rose in warning.

“The hell do you think you're doing? Let go, Rose!”

“Not until you tell me why you need to go all of a sudden! Don't lie to me and tell me you're not all kinds of turned on right now, either, because I definitely noticed before you decided to bail on me!” she shot back, hurriedly drawing closer pulling herself along his tail, hand over hand.

“I can take care of myself! Just let me go!”

“But why? Dezel, I just let you stick several inches of your damn tongue inside me and you won't let me return the favor somehow!?”

Dezel snarled as Rose attempted to climb onto his back, his entire body hunkering down to protect his underside. Something that seemed ridiculously unnecessary in the face of having a small, naked human clambering around atop him.

“Stop being so dramatic about this and just talk to me already!” Rose demanded as she locked her arms around his neck. “You not talking to me is part of what caused all our problems in the first place!”

Curling in on himself, Dezel wrapped his tail around his body like a loafed up feline. “I don't want to! It's too damn embarrassing!”

“What? Do you have some super weird junk or something? It can't be that bad!”

Dezel said nothing in response, but the shiver that ran the length of his body told Rose more than several words ever could. Sighing, Rose leaned down over him and nuzzled her face against the ridge of hair and fur on the back of his neck. 

“You really are a bastard, you know that? Thinking that after all this, I'm going to be bothered by whatever you've got in your pants. I know that sounds stupid, but I just want things to be fair between us. You've made me feel better than I have in a long time and I just want to try to do the same for you. But I guess if the thought of letting me try bothers you that much, I can let you go.”

He shifted beneath her, clearly uncomfortable, but did nothing to remove her. When he finally did speak, his voice was low and quiet. Barely audible. “Maybe it's stupid, but... I'm self-conscious about it. And I don't want you to feel obligated to give me anything in return.”

“It wouldn't just be an obligation, Dezel. Sure, I called it returning the favor, but that's not all it would be.” Laying against his neck, Rose lifted a hand to play with one of his ears. “I'm curious about you. And I want to hear you make more of those adorable noises we talked about earlier.”

“I'm tired of being this way. And I don't want to scare you anymore, I-”

“Dezel. Trust me. You don't scare me. No part of you is going to be too odd for me. You couldn't manage to scare me off earlier with all your roaring and chasing, so what makes you think I'll be put off by seeing you entirely for what you are now?” Turning her head, she kissed the back of his neck. “As I said, you can go if you really want to, but you can also stay and we'll take things slow if you want that instead.”

She felt him swallow, another tremor causing him to shudder briefly before he finally nodded.

“Alright. I'll stay.”

Rose smiled and kissed his neck again, then slid off him and made her way back to the blanket pile. Slinking after her, Dezel made a slight detour toward one of the crates where one of the water canteens sat. After taking a moment to get a drink, rubbing a bit of water over the lower half of his face and wiping it off with a cloth, he joined Rose on their shared bed where she bade him sit down. Wordlessly, he complied, back against the wall while she knelt in front of him between his spread legs.

“Tell me if I do something you don't like and I'll stop, okay?” she said, her right hand hovering near his groin.

Dezel nodded, though his expression betrayed his apprehension.

Determined to take things slow enough so as not to frighten her new lover away, Rose touched the tip of a single finger to the area of tightened fabric in Dezel's pants, gently running it up and over the thickest part of the bulge. Dezel drew a sharp breath and tensed, one leg jolting a little. Rose paused a moment, letting him relax again before trying the same motion a second time. The result then was more favorable, Dezel still tensing up, but letting his breath out in a soft moan.

One by one, Rose added her other fingers to the mix, slowly stroking him along his covered length, feeling him up and down little by little. She watched and listened attentively as Dezel licked his lips and uttered barely-there little moans, clearly trying to restrain himself to some degree, still. Something that Rose wasn't about to have after all the noise she made herself, earlier. Reaching up with her free hand, she hooked a finger around one of his curving horns and drew him down for a kiss. As their lips met, she applied a little more pressure with her other hand, rubbing and squeezing gently. Dezel whimpered against her mouth, anxious, but still wanting.

Meanwhile, the air stirred restlessly, a sure sign that Dezel was all too alert for any warning signs that Rose did not approve of what she was finding. Some part of her wanted to tell him to relax and still his winds, to trust that she wouldn't reject him, but she realized it might be a little too much to ask just then. Rather, it might be best to let him remain on guard and discover for himself as they went further that she wasn't bothered by any differences in his anatomy.

At the end of a particularly slow stroke, Rose let her fingers come to rest on Dezel's belts. Breaking their kiss, she kept her other hand on the side of his face, thumb brushing his cheek lightly. “Think you're ready to let me get your belts off?”

Dezel swallowed thickly, but nodded, regardless. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Thinking that he had to be more than a little uncomfortable by that point, Rose tried to balance care with as much haste as she dared use, undoing the buckles on Dezel's belts and sliding them free. As she set both belts and their attached pouches aside, she glanced up at her companion briefly to see that he was back to looking all too apprehensive again. Well, they were up to the moment of truth, after all, she supposed.

“Hey,” she said softly before giving him another brief kiss. “Trust me. It'll be fine.”

To prove her point, Rose knelt down after and placed a second brief kiss against his covered erection. Dezel shivered, eyes closing. It was then that Rose took the opportunity to get his pants open, undoing the clasps and folding the two sides back.

Dezel couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as his arousal was exposed, and Rose could easily see why. While not overly long in proportion, his cock was impressively thick, the head of it crowned with an unusually larger flared edge. The underside appeared to be ridged with thicker skin that wrapped around the sides to create a ribbed texture, while the base of his length was dappled with green scales instead of hair that trailed up a couple of inches in a thin line toward his navel. Most of it was the same dark color as the rest of his skin, though the ridges on the underside bore a greener pigmentation that extended into the flare around the head.

Rose realized she was staring, Dezel's restless winds snapping her back into the moment. She looked up at him again to see fear reflected in his blind eyes. He was tense again, his entire body locked up and ready to move if necessary. This being his first time, he was probably terrified enough as it was without the added issue of having an odd-looking dick.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, however, Rose couldn't help but laugh a little. Dezel cringed and she shook her head, stretching up to kiss his cheek.

“I was expecting something stranger after all the fuss. But I don't think it's really all that odd. If anything, I think it's interesting, just like the rest of you.”

“Really...?” He didn't sound entirely convinced.

Rose hooked her finger around the curve of his horn again and leaned up again to whisper in his ear. “Yeah, really. And I'm eager to know what it feels like inside of me.”

Dezel's face flushed as red as Rose's hair in the dim light, the words needed to respond apparently slipping through his grasp, a weak, embarrassed smile all he could manage in their place. Rose laughed again and kissed his cheeks, then got to her feet and stepped back. 

“I think it'll be easier if you get your pants off and lay down, though. Besides, I like using you like a mattress, anyway.”

“Glad to be of service...I think,” he said as he got up and stripped, then lay down on his back with his wings spread to either side. “This really doesn't bother you, does it?”

“It bothers me about as much as the rest of you,” Rose said, kneeling at his side and placing a kiss against his chest. “Which is not at all. Your appearance might've startled me at first, but I've never thought of you as ugly. In a lot of ways, you're actually quite handsome, I think. Besides, if your sharp teeth and six-inch-long forked tongue don't bother me, why would a half green, ridged dick get to me?”

“Point, I suppose.” His smile broadened a bit. “Sorry I didn't trust you to accept me as I am.”

“Well, it is your first time on top of being in a body you weren't born with, so I think I can forgive you for being adorably difficult,” Rose assured him with a wink.

Dezel's blush deepened at that, his ears flicking back behind his head. Before Rose could clamber up onto him, however, he piped up again. “I...I wish I could see you. Normally, through my own eyes, I mean.”

Rose frowned, tilting her head a little. “Yeah? Why's that? I mean, not that I don't understand why you would want to, but is there some specific reason?”

“You mentioning my looks reminded me that I don't have a full picture of what you look like now. As an adult. I only know what the air currents can tell me about the way you move and occupy space, and what it whispers to me about things like the color of your hair.”

“And you really only have a full mental picture of me from when we were kids...”

“Yeah...” Dezel sagged back further against the blankets, eyes closing. “If anything, I wish I could see your eyes. I remember them being so _blue_... Like the color of the sky just before twilight. That perfect kind of blue only matched the clearest of ocean water over coral reefs.”

“Oh...”

There was a tightness forming in Rose's chest, brought on by a mix of nostalgia, affection, embarrassment, and sympathy. A twinge of something else was also there, however. Something more than mere fondness. Something deeper she hesitated to put a name to just yet. It was trying to settle somewhere within her core, causing her heart to beat just a little faster and butterflies to manifest in her middle. Taking up Dezel's near hand in hers, she placed his palm against her cheek and held it there. His fingers twitched in response, but he did not try to remove it, turning his clouded silver gaze toward her with his eyebrows arched in question instead.

“You know, I think that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said about me. Anyone aside from my dad, I guess,” she admitted, the tightness in her chest increasing further as she recalled Brad's efforts to encourage her in the face of the near-constant rumors that surrounded her. “Most people only pay attention to my hair, probably because it's so red. Like the color of blood. It's how I got my name. I never bothered to learn much about the ancient tongue, but I was told it means 'the one who makes the bloodflower bloom'. So it's nice to be remembered for something else, especially since I've always liked the color of my eyes.”

“Did your father give your name to you...?”

“No. It was someone in Marlind, I think, after I was dropped off there. They needed something to call me since I couldn't recall my original name and there were so many stories going around about how I was that strange, haunted little girl found in a battlefield, covered in blood. By the time Brad decided to take me in, the name had stuck and I wouldn't answer to anything else.”

“I see. Do you mind it?” He absently stroked her cheek with the side of his thumb.

“I don't, weirdly enough,” she said with a barely-there, but mirthless chuckle. Resting her other hand against his forearm, she gave it a light, affectionate rub. “But maybe it's because I'm used to it being attached to me and have just sort of accepted it. Or maybe it's because in some strange way, I'm proud to be that odd child they found covered in blood. It means I'm tougher than most people.”

Dezel smiled fondly at her. “I can always appreciate a survivor. And I'll never question your guts, not after you called my bluff earlier.”

“Well, that was just me seeing past your attempts to be a big, scary dragon-man when I already knew your rough exterior was hiding someone with a soft heart,” Rose replied with a more genuine chuckle before turning her head to kiss his palm. “But we're supposed to be having fun with a part of you that's not nearly so soft right now, so how about I get on top of you and make you feel as good as you made me feel earlier?”

Much to Rose's amusement and her dragon-man's chagrin, Dezel blushed again and huffed out a sigh. To his credit, however, he didn't deny her want to continue.

“Perch on me then, little bird. But just remember that it's all your fault that my damn pants suddenly got so uncomfortable to begin with.”

“Something I'm plenty proud to take credit for! And I'll also be more than happy to take credit for all the delicious little noises you make while I play with you.”

As Dezel took his hand from her, Rose climbed up on top of him, though she did so by taking  
a seat on his middle that allowed her to face his tail and legs rather than his face. Able to sense the way she'd positioned herself, Dezel set a hand on one of her legs. He was tense again beneath her, so she took a moment to pat his big paw in reassurance before laying down on him and getting comfortable.

“If you don't like it, you can stop any time,” Dezel said from behind her. 

“This isn't exactly my first time like it is yours, you know. I've done this a couple times before.”

“Just thought I'd remind you of the option.”

Rose smiled and kissed his lower abdomen in acknowledgment. “That's sweet of you. But I don't plan on stopping until you fall apart beneath me.”

Deciding it was time to abandon conversation altogether, Rose leaned forward and placed a series of light kisses along Dezel's hardened shaft. The results were immediate; Dezel's breath caught, a low whimper escaping him as his cock twitched against the hand she used to steady him. She grinned and decided to reward the prompt reaction with a long, slow lick of her tongue from the base of his shaft to the head, edging her tongue around the flared ridge. Dezel gasped, his toes curling while the end of his tail twitched. Not being able to see his face was something of a disappointment, but getting to watch his lower half go into spasms of pleasure the further she went? Well, that much was definitely going to be worth the “price of admission” on this ride.

“Hmm, this feels and sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.” Despite Dezel's blindness and ability to read the wind, Rose still glanced back his way with a smug smirk plastered prominently across her face. The sight of Dezel nervously licking his lips greeted her, one of his paws moving to grip the blankets to the side. “Just promise me you won't hold back, okay? I can't see your face this way, so I want to hear exactly how I'm making you feel.”

“Ah, right. But...just one thing before you continue?”

“Yeah, what's that? Got a request for how I handle this? Want me to pay some extra special attention to these sexy little ridges, maybe?”

“_No!_ I mean, if you want to, that's...that's fine,” Dezel stammered, so red in the face Rose had to wonder if smoke was about to start pouring from his ears. “I just thought I should warn you that ever since I became a hellion, I...”

Rose blinked as he trailed off. “You...what? Have weird colored cum or something?”

“What? No! That much looks like it did before. It's more like...the amount of it...”

“So you tend to unload a lot at a time, then?” Rose ran a finger over the underside of his cock, feeling over the ridges and causing Dezel to shiver. “If you're worried I can't handle it or that you'll make a mess, don't. It's not that big a deal. Sex is usually kind of messy, anyway. Besides, I'm just going to take this to mean you've been dealing with urges all this time on your own, but now that I'm around you don't have to worry about that quite so much anymore!”

“Well, it's not like I expect you to-”

Dezel cut himself off with a gasp and a groan as Rose took the head of his hardened length into her mouth and sucked gently on it, lightly teasing the flare with her tongue again. As she ran her tongue over the slitted tip, one finger slowly trailing over the ridges on the underside, Rose watched with growing satisfaction as Dezel's legs twitched and tensed, his tail curling back and forth against either one as he struggled to keep from bucking beneath her. Intent on pleasuring her new lover as much as possible before he came, Rose took her time in taking him in, easing him further into her warm mouth a bit at a time, pressing and rubbing her tongue over the top of his shaft while she continued to let one hand rove lower, two fingers gently rubbing the patch of soft skin between the base of Dezel's cock and his balls.

Behind her, Dezel whimpered and gripped one of her lower legs in a large paw, pulling it close so he could press a cheek against it before kissing and licking at her skin. Rose wriggled her toes and moved her leg just a hair, giving the side of his face a fond little rub before she managed to get him in deep enough for a good, hard swallow. 

“R-Rose! _Ah..._”

One leg was now up, bent at the knee as he kissed the side of her leg, breath hot on her skin as he panted a little with each bobbing dip of her head, her lips sliding over his shaft. Unfortunately, he was a little too big to get more than halfway into her mouth, even with his tip nearly to the back of her throat, but Rose did what she could to make the most of the situation. Her hands worked in tandem with her mouth, squeezing and stroking the exposed areas while she worked him toward orgasm.

Dezel's legs strained, angling so that his claws were raking over the exposed stone floor. He was close, especially if the way he was moaning raggedly was any indication, his other paw tugging at the blankets off to one side. Rose managed a half, self-satisfied smirk as she sucked at him, then took him in as deep as she dared. One hand dipped low to massage his balls, urging him to come while she worked to swallow around him multiple times. Her throat and jaws were starting to hurt, but they were so close, Dezel's hips tilting marginally beneath her, aching to thrust up and inward. She felt him press gritted teeth against the side of her leg, something like a broken sob echoing up from the back of his throat before he croaked out her name in desperation...

Rose pulled back just in time, allowing enough of him slip out of her mouth before he throbbed between her lips and came hard.

Even with prior warning, the amount of fluid that gushed into Rose's mouth was more than she bargained for. Still, she tried to swallow as much of it as possible, the rest managing to dribble down her chin and onto Dezel's spasming lower abdomen and groin while he fought to keep still. He was panting hard, his entire body locking up, save for his wings, which arched up and over them, shivering in what Rose could only hope was some well-deserved ecstasy. Determined to make sure that she drew out his orgasm as he had done for her, she sucked hungrily on him for a few more moments, her hands reaching out to massage the tops of his thighs as he slowly came down from his intense physical high. When it was over, the tension finally draining out of him, Dezel all but collapsed against the floor and blankets, breathing heavily, a few small, soft whines escaping him here and there.

Letting his cock slip completely out of her mouth, Rose eased herself off her hellion-lover-turned-to-mush and stood up to look over her handiwork. Dezel lay sprawled over the blankets and floor, eyes nearly closed as he continued to twitch here and there via those last few nerves still inundated with pleasure. His face was wet with tears, his mouth half-open as he wound down into catching his breath. Rose frowned, taking a moment to get a drink of water and clean her face off with the same cloth Dezel had used earlier before making her way back over to kneel at his side.

“Hey, Dezel, you okay?” Setting one hand on his upturned cheek, she wiped away some of the moisture with the side of her thumb. “I didn't overdo it and hurt you, did I?”

He set a hand over hers, mouth twitching up in the faintest of fond smiles. “No... I'm just...a little overwhelmed.”

Concern suddenly replaced with both relief and satisfaction, Rose returned his smile with one of her own. “Guess that means I did a good job, then?”

“I guess so, seeing as how I don't think I'll be able to get up right away. My legs feel like jelly.”

“Totally normal for a first time 'round! Or even second or third. But it's a nice kind of tired feeling, isn't it?”

His grin broadened a fraction and he turned his head to kiss her palm. “It is. Thank you, Rose.”

Rose brushed a few stray locks of hair from his face before pulling back, scooting back down again to use the cloth in her other hand to clean Dezel off somewhat. He pushed himself up onto his elbows as she worked, still unable to keep from trembling briefly here and there, especially as she gently ran the cloth around and over his cock.

“You're actually still pretty hard,” Rose observed with arching eyebrows as she glanced back at him. “Suppose I didn't get you as good as I thought I did.”

Dezel shook his head once, his cheeks taking on a light pink tinge again. “No, you did. I'm just still aroused. It...takes a lot to wear me out.”

“Well, that's not really a bad thing, is it! Means we can keep going after a little break, right?”

“You're not too tired?”

“Nope! I mean, I sort of am, but I think I can still squeeze in one more round,” Rose assured him with a sly smile. “One that'll involve squeezing you into me.”

Dezel frowned, glancing away in embarrassment. “Only if you're sure it won't be too difficult for you.”

“Hey...” Rose leaned on his side and placed a hand on his cheek to turn his head her way once more. “I like a bit of a challenge. Besides, I want to be able to see your face this time while we mess around. For a big, bad hellion, you've got such a nice smile, I bet you make the most beautiful expressions when you're feeling really good.”

Rose was already ending up a total sucker when it came to seeing Dezel embarrassed and flustered in a positive fashion. She grinned as his blush deepened all over again, his chin dipping down as he struggled to come up with a response that wasn't just a bunch of indignant growling and stammering. Though rather than let him stumble through an answer to her compliments, she saved him the trouble by leaning in and giving him a soft kiss to quiet him a moment. He hummed quietly at the contact, then set a paw on her arm, tugging lightly at her, urging her to climb back onto him again.

“I like this,” he admitted through a deep rumble as he lay back with her on top of him, pulling  
her into a warm embrace. “It leaves me feeling...warm. And grounded. More than I have in a long time.”

“You really are just a big softie who likes a little quiet affection,” Rose couldn't help but tease before giving him another kiss. “It's cute. And I'm happy to share it with you. It makes me feel good, too.”

The next kiss she offered him was more a nip to his lower lip to urge his mouth open, allowing her to press her tongue in to meet his. There was a lot of him in comparison, but he didn't push back, allowing her to explore his mouth, her tongue feeling carefully over his sharp front teeth before he tentatively slid his own over hers to do the same in return. They held contact for as long as they could before drawing back for rounds of lighter, shallower kisses, allowing them both to breathe before returning to deeper exchanges. Rose cupped Dezel's jaw at first, her thumbs stroking the plating that extended down the sides of his neck before her fingers found their way into his hair. Dezel groaned into her mouth as she massaged his scalp, the rest of him squirming a little beneath her in a way that betrayed his eagerness for more. Meanwhile, his paws traveled down her sides and back, squeezing affectionately at her hips and thighs, pads rubbing over her sweat moistened skin. It was enough to draw moans of approval out of Rose, who shifted herself enough to rub against him just a bit.

“Think you're ready?” Rose asked between kisses, unable to keep her hips from tilting and grinding down. “Because I definitely am.”

“A little more, Rose?” He hugged her closer, kissing the corner of her mouth. “Please?”

There was a shyness in his tone, a questioning lilt that shifted just enough into the barest amount of pleading that made Rose's heart melt. His eyebrows arched with the inquiry, his expression hopeful. She giggled quietly in return and kissed him tenderly, hands moving up to rub around the bases of his velvet ears. Dezel purred deeply in response, a low whimper accompanying the warm sound that said more than words ever could. 

She kissed him until they were both nearly out of breath again, Dezel allowing her to lead while he rubbed at the back of her neck with one hand, doing his own part to draw several low, pleased noises from his partner. He was learning quickly where to caress her, which areas would earn him what he wished to hear with the right amount of stroking or kneading. As they stopped to catch their breath again, Dezel pressed the bridge of his nose against the side of Rose's neck, nuzzling her before giving her a soft lick over one of the light bruise marks he'd granted her earlier, causing her to sigh and shift her hips against him again.

“Thank you.” His voice was little more than a deep exhale as he took his hands from her and lay back. “Whenever you're ready, little bird.”

Rose smiled, eager to satisfy the renewed sensation of need and pressure in her lower half, but not so much that she didn't pause to place a kiss on Dezel's chest before shifting herself down and into position. As she took his hardened length in hand, her thumb rubbing over the head a moment, she glanced up at her partner to see his eyes close, his mouth open to let out a soft, but shaky sigh. The way her hand failed to encompass his girth fully was a reminder of his size, but Rose couldn't help but feel confident, regardless. She was wet again, almost desperately so, and the absence of anything within her to fill that needy void was almost painful.

She could handle this.

Directing him to her entrance, Rose pushed his head into herself, breath hitching as the flare around it helped widen her for the rest to follow. The ridges on the underside of his cock, combined with the ribbing along the sides rubbed her in a way she'd never experienced before as she slowly moved her hips back and down, enveloping him in her heat little by little. Still, for as strange and inviting as these new sensations were, Rose did not forget to glance up at her lover's face, watching with satisfaction as Dezel's expressions mirrored his own pleasure. As she forced herself to take him as slowly as she was able, he set a paw on one of her thighs, likely eager to be completely inside her. But as this was his first time, she wasn't about to rush anything. Not even as burning heat filled her the further he stretched her open, the widest point of him causing her to pause in her efforts with a groan. 

Finally, Rose found herself seated atop Dezel's groin area, her hands pressed against his stomach while she let the feeling of him within her wash over her. His presence was a strong, pulsating warmth that made her feel heated from head to toe. She also felt incredibly full, more so than in any previous encounter with any other lover. 

“Rose?” Dezel's somewhat strained tone brought her back into the moment beyond her own physical sensations. “You alright...?”

She nodded and exhaled, having only realized just then that she'd been holding her breath. “Yeah... I'm fine. Can't blame a girl for taking a moment to appreciate how full and warm her new partner makes her feel, right?”

She gave him a little squeeze to emphasize the point and was pleased to hear him utter a low, needy grunt while gripping her leg a fraction tighter. Before he could comment in return, Rose began to move, slowly at first so both of them could savor the sensation as she rocked her hips up and then back and down again. Eyes closing, she focused on feeling him as he rubbed her, both on how it pleased her and in figuring on how far she could go before that flared edge tugged at the edges of her entrance. 

“Rose...” Dezel ran his tongue over his teeth, eyes closing and brow furrowing. His ears were twitching along the sides of his head. “Ahhh, Lords... ”

Despite the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth over how he reacted to being inside her, Rose still had to silently bemoan the fact that their height difference was too great to allow them to comfortably kiss while they made love. Regardless, she could manage to express additional affection in other ways, such as leaning down to place kisses against his chest and moving her hands over sensitive areas along his sides. Dezel responded by rubbing her legs and sliding his paws up along her haunches, already starting to figure out how to properly roll his hips beneath her so she wouldn't need to do all the work. Heat began to build between them, the ridges on his length adding a pleasant amount of friction that Rose had not known in encounters with previous partners.

“Still feeling good?” she asked, her own eyes closing briefly and her breath catching momentarily as he shifted his angle slightly and thrust in a little harder.

“Very,” he breathed, managing a toothy grin that sent shivers down her spine. Gods, that smile and those teeth alone were almost enough to make her beg to be eaten. “What about you? Still alright?”

Rose arched her back a little and allowed herself time for a pleased moan as his hips rocked up beneath her, shoving his thick length in good and deep. “Mm, better than alright. You're definitely a lot to take, but worth every hot inch...”

Licking her lips, Rose suddenly pushed herself back and down on the next opportunity, causing both of them to gasp, Dezel grasping at her ass as she began to ride him harder. In and out, up and then back, Rose could feel her eyes growing wet with tears as pleasure began to overtake her fully. She wanted more. _Needed more._ Had to have every bit of him stroking her until she came. Needed him to stuff himself into her until his heat flooded her... 

“Dezel...!”

She braced her hands against him, breath coming in hot, shallow gasps as she chased that final physical high. Dezel gripped her ass with both paws, growling as his body writhed rhythmically below her like a snake, hips rolling up harder and faster, driving him deep into her with every quick thrust.

“Harder!” she begged between ragged gasps. “Fuck me until I can barely stand, dammit!”

Dezen snarled around a shaky grin. “Greedy little bird...!”

Rose's fingers curled hard, nails scraping over Dezel's flesh. She was starting to fall apart, struggling to hold it together to make all the wonderful sensations rushing throughout her body last just a little longer. Dezel's eyes were tightly closed, his brow furrowed and mouth half-open in a half snarl of desperate need. His growls had turned to gasps and whimpers, his tail lashing about behind them, the soles of his feet pressed to the floor to grant him better leverage as he all but slammed his ridged length into Rose over and over again. The ribbed sides of it rippled against her walls, setting her nerves on fire...

Then Dezel was straining against her as he came, his cock throbbing up inside her before unloading a wave of heat, the harsh growl that came out of him stretching out into a whimper of ecstasy. Rose ground down against him, savoring how impossibly full she felt, one hand moving to rub at her clit. The extra stimulation was barely needed, however, Rose climaxing a few seconds later with a desperate gasp, her eyes shut tightly as she spasmed around Dezel's cock. She shivered as she rolled and rubbed herself down against him, relishing their shared release and squeezing him a few more times before finally pulling clear and half tumbling off him in a weary, clumsy dismount.

Laying on her side against the blankets, Rose shuddered and rubbed her legs together, her hips still twitching in the aftermath from the sheer amount of stimulation she'd just experienced. She was wet all down in the insides of her thighs, but she found she didn't care. Especially not as her lover rolled over behind her and nuzzled his nose up under her hair so that he could kiss and nibble at the back of her neck. Arching her back, Rose reached back with one hand and felt along his near curving horn, her touch resulting in a soft growl that came out hot against her sweat moistened skin.

“I'll stop if you don't want any more,” Dezel breathed near her ear before kissing her again. “I'm just still...hungry.”

Lifting her leg, Rose rested it against his hip as he pressed against her, rubbing him gently. A quick glance down on her part told her all she needed to know about his near insatiable appetite. She smirked. “Who knew you'd be such a horny bastard?”

“Should I stop?”

“Mm, no.” Rose leaned back against him, tired but enjoying his continued affection far too much to call a halt to it all. As he set a large paw on her hip, she took it in her own hand and slid it up over one of her breasts. “But at this point, you'll probably have to do most of the work.”

“I can definitely handle that...”

He gave her breast a careful, teasing squeeze before shifting himself up so that his cock was between her legs, the top side of it beneath her slit. Slowly, he rocked his hips against her ass, rubbing himself against her, his tail curling around her upheld leg to keep it in place while he grew fully thick and hard again. Rose trembled and moaned softly as his paw pads caressed her breast, pinching the nipple now and again to send a pleasant jolt through her body.

“I missed you...” Dezel's voice was a mere whisper as he kissed the top of her head, nose buried in her hair. “I never wanted to leave you in Marlind...”

Chest suddenly tight, Rose let her fingertips trail over the side of his neck. Though her own memories were vague, she could remember enough of that day to know Dezel's pain. She hadn't wanted to stay behind, either. She'd cried as someone had picked her up, wrenching her away from the boy with the green eyes, her hand torn from his. No one would listen to her insistent screams, that she wanted to stay with her friend. 

“I know you didn't,” she managed quietly, eyes closing as she fought off the urge to cry. “And I missed you, too. I'm sorry I forgot about you. That I didn't remember sooner...”

“Don't... It wasn't your fault.”

He kissed her again and Rose gasped as he shifted the angle of his hips and eased himself back inside her. For as large as he was, for as easily as he could have plunged himself into her, the move was surprisingly gentle. Still, Rose couldn't help but groan as he ate up space within her once more, his hardness pressed tightly to her walls. With a soft sigh of need, Dezel turned them both a bit, rolling put them at more of an angle to the floor, one leg out to brace his weight as he leaned on one elbow so that he wouldn't put so much pressure on his smaller lover. Slowly, he began to roll his hips behind and under her, working himself in and out at a leisurely pace.

Rose realized then that for as sensitive as she was to every little touch, Dezel might also be feeling similarly despite his want for more sex. He was drawing the experience out, being careful with both himself and her so that neither would come too quickly. And while Rose was definitely interested to see how wild a hellion like him could get, how eager he could be to fuck them both into exhaustion, there was something so very fitting about how their first experience together was winding down to its conclusion.

“Tell me if it's too much.”

Dezel's soft tone brought Rose back into the present beyond her hazy thoughts and the spreading sensation of pleasure as it retook her body. She moaned as he used his free hand to play carefully with one of her breasts, rolling the thick pad of his thumb over the nipple. 

“It's not,” she sighed, eyes closing as she covered his hand with hers. “It's perfect.”

He purred in response and settled down further, wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace while he continued to stroke her. The deep rumble emanating from his chest filled Rose with an emotional warmth to match the heat of their lovemaking, though it also served as yet another reminder that her new partner was not human, nor would ever be human. If the church in Lastonbell ever found out about her carnal union with a seraph-turned-hellion, they would probably brand it unholy and foul. If the cultists ever discovered what had really become of their sacrifice, they would surely call it blasphemy. 

But Rose knew she wouldn't and couldn't care in either case. She had been reunited with her childhood savior and the first friend she could ever recall having, and she was determined to hang onto him this time and return the favor. He was big and bestial and growly and grumpy, but so soft on the inside he might as well be an attention-starved puppy. Reaching up with one hand, Rose found and cupped Dezel's cheek, earning a low whimper before he turned to kiss and lick her palm. He cuddled her and nuzzled against her, whimpering and moaning as he reached toward climax.

Rose herself was struggling not to move her hips too much, knowing that the wrong move at the wrong time could cause Dezel to accidentally pull clean out of her. And for as close as the edge as she was, she couldn't stand the thought of suddenly being empty, deprived of his warmth. Again and again, he thrust in and out of her, each stroke becoming a little more desperate than the last. He stretched her, filled her, rubbing almost every inch of his engorged length against the edges of her entrance and the slick heat of her interior. 

“I won't leave your side again,” Dezel panted, one paw sliding down to where he could rub a fingerpad against Rose's exposed clit. “I promise you that I won't... Rose...”

Rose cried out as he held and caressed her, eyes shut and squeezing out tears brought on by the overwhelming amount of pure pleasure surging through her. “You had better not–! And I–I won't let go of you this time! _I won't!_ Because I...I–!”

She cut herself off as she came, toes curling and mouth opening in a silent cry as she squeezed Dezel's cock. Breath catching, Dezel eased his pace to savor how tight Rose became as she locked up. He pumped her full with deliberate slowness, groaning in shameless ecstasy as he squeezed himself in and out of her a few more times, only ceasing when he throbbed deep inside her and came with a long, satisfied sigh of relief. Still, he continued to massage Rose's clit, working her through an almost painfully long orgasm as he filled her to overflowing, their fluids mixing and seeping out to drip down onto the blankets beneath them.

“So much...so damn much, oh gods...” The words were little more than breathless exhales as Rose arched against Dezel's front, trembling and caught between so overstimulated she no longer wanted contact and yet still wanting to be held. Fortunately, her partner managed to take the cue on what she needed.

Carefully, Dezel withdrew from her, pulling her up to where he could press a few kisses against the side of her head. Rose shivered again and curled up in his arms, letting him offer her gestures of affection until she could settle further. Then she was turning more toward him, kissing him desperately while her fingers found their way into his hair and rubbed at the bases of his velvet ears.

“I'm so tired, but I still want to kiss you,” she half wept, kissing him on the cheeks and the corners of his mouth when her lips were not pressed to his. “I missed you, I really did. Even when I couldn't remember your face so well anymore, I'd cry sometimes at night as a kid because I knew something or someone had left me. You were all I remember starting with and now you're all I have left...”

“My Rose,” Dezel purred, his voice weak and watery but his rumbling still warm and strong. “My precious little bird...”

He licked at her jaw, then the side of her neck, tongue rolling over the little nip marks and bruises his mouth had left behind earlier. Rose leaned her head against his, crying pitifully into his hair while he comforted her, grateful for his understanding and devotion. 

“I'm sorry, Dezel, I know you hate the sound of crying.”

“Only because it might mean you're sad, and only before because I didn't know what to do about it, Rose...”

Rose managed a small laugh between tears, a smile breaking through her strained expression briefly as she tipped his head up to gaze into his clouded eyes. “Listen to you, trying to be tough all this time, even as a kid, when you really were nothing but a softie under it all.”

He swallowed thickly, eyes turning glassy as she brushed his cheeks with the sides of her thumbs. “I'm sorry, Rose. I know I can't fix much and there's already so much that's broken, but I can at least try to help you carry the pieces you have left.”

“We'll help each other carry each other's broken burdens, okay? Promise me we'll do that.”

Dezel nodded and pressed his forehead to hers, his breath warm against her lips when he spoke. “Yeah, I promise. Promise me, too...?”

“I do. I promise I will, my big puppy of a seraph-dragon.”

Dezel blushed and Rose laughed softly through her tears before capturing his mouth in a tender, passionate kiss. The world faded into a pleasant warm haze afterward and Rose only vaguely felt Dezel get up to extinguish the lamplight before returning and curling up with her after, tugging a blanket over them both.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now more than friends, Rose and Dezel share their first day of being together as partners, recalling old memories to help forge new ones.

When Rose woke later, she found she had no idea how long she'd been asleep. Her body, however, was intent on reminding her that she may have come close to overdoing it the night before with all her fooling around. Her hips and thigh muscles were especially sore, but she found she didn't mind all that much. Not when she was so closely ensconced against the warm body of her lover, her head leaned against his chest to where she could just barely hear the sound of his slow resting heartbeat. One of his arms lay draped over her, a large blanket still covering most of their bodies. It seemed neither of them had moved much since falling asleep, too exhausted to even shift their positions after passing out.

“Dezel?” Rose asked quietly after a few moments of laying in contemplative silence. “You awake yet...?”

“Yeah, been awake for a little while,” came the equally soft response. “Just didn't want to disturb you.”

“Any idea how long we've been asleep?”

“Several hours. I have a feeling the sun is already up outside.”

“Mmph, I kinda need to get up, but I don't really want to,” Rose huffed. “I'm sore and you're warm.”

Dezel didn't say anything back right away, instead choosing to merely sigh and continue laying on his side. Rose lay still for several seconds, waiting for him to speak. When he didn't, she set a hand against the center of his chest.

“Hey, Dezel? Are you okay?”

Another few seconds of silence on her companion's part, then: “...are you okay, Rose? With all this, I mean?”

“What?” Pushing herself upright, Rose scooted up a bit and leaned on one elbow to where she was more level with Dezel's head as he lay with his eyes closed in the darkened room. “Why wouldn't I be? Didn't we talk about that last night?”

“We did, but...it was in the heat of the moment and when I woke up earlier, I...” He trailed off and sighed a little, letting those words hang in the air before forcing himself to continue. “I got to thinking about what it all means. The two of us, promising to stay together, now.”

“You mean aside from catching up on all those years we lost out on together and having mind-blowing sex every other night?” Rose asked, unable to keep a slight tone of amusement out of her voice. Was there really more to it than that?

“Yes. This isn't a normal relationship, Rose. Even if I was still a seraph and not a hellion, even if you can become a Shepherd and purify me, this isn't how it usually is for either of our kinds.”

“You're under the impression that I care about what's normal, though. Nothing about my life has ever been all that normal in the first place.”

“I just...I...don't want this to be harder for you than necessary. It's not going to be easy having me with you all the time. I'm not someone you can introduce to other people or even explain easily. Do you really want to choose me over a human companion...?”

Rose found she couldn't respond immediately, though it wasn't for lack of a sure answer. Rather, she was watching Dezel, taking a moment to analyze the way he was having difficulty meeting her gaze, even in the dim light. Even not accounting for his lack of sight. Her silence caused him to tense, his ears tipped back and trembling. Reaching out, Rose brushed his bangs from his face and let her fingertips glide gently down his cheek.

“I don't think this is so much about me choosing you over a human companion so much as you just thinking you're not worth as much as one,” she finally said softly. It was enough to finally cause Dezel to glance up at her, his uncertainty melting into a mix of anxiety and embarrassment. Rose shook her head and brushed his cheek again. “This is just part of being a hellion for you, isn't it? You lost everything and everyone because you cared too much, and now you're scared you aren't and won't ever be worth it for anyone ever again.”

“I... Maybe,” he managed, the words barely audible. Reaching up, he caught Rose's hand in one of his paws, pressing it to the side of his jaw. “I don't know. I rarely ever had thoughts or feelings like these before I turned. It's like I said last night... It's been so long since I've been happy, I'd almost forgotten what it felt like. Being a hellion is like...it's like having a heavy weight inside my chest all the time. Everything is doubt and despair and guilt and...and...”

“Self-loathing,” Rose finished, taking the opportunity to rub his cheek with the side of her thumb. “Leaning on those emotions, you can't imagine anyone voluntarily wanting to be with you, can you?”

He swallowed thickly. “No. I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like I need affirmation constantly. You deserve better than that–“

Rose shushed him there, cutting him off mid-sentence. Dezel furrowed his brow, obviously frustrated, but didn't attempt to force the issue, giving Rose the chance to speak.

“While it's flattering that you think I deserve good things, remember that you _are_ something good, Dezel. Even as a hellion. Let me decide what it is that makes me happy, alright? And we'll work on this self-loathing and self-doubt of yours in the meantime. Nobody's perfect and you feeling less than confident as a partner is something that'll probably go away in time. For now, though, just trust me, okay? Even if you're having trouble trusting your own confidence. And remember that even you turning all growly and scary wasn't enough to chase me off. Now that I've got you sold on the idea of kissing and cuddling, you're going to have a tough time getting rid of me.”

Dezel swallowed again, then nodded a little. “Yeah, alright.”

“So, that taken care of... How about a bath before breakfast? Then maybe afterward we can take all these blankets outside for a wash downstream.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

After planting a kiss on Dezel's forehead, Rose slid out of his arms and pushed the blanket back so she could hunt around for her old nightgown. With a little help from her hellion companion, she managed to locate it and pull it on while he retrieved his pants and got dressed. The short trip to the spring and stream out back was one dominated by Rose's suggestions for food afterward, mentions of wild plums and bramble berries chief among them.

When they arrived, Rose all but threw off her nightgown and waded right into the water without a moment's hesitation. Though the previous night's romp had been an amazing experience, she was starting to feel some discomfort due to the dried sweat and other fluids on her skin, mixed with some of the dust from the ruins. The water was almost shockingly cold as usual but did little to deter her. 

“Oh gods, this feels a whole hell of a lot better!” Rose took a moment to splash some water over her face, rubbing at her eyes after only to see that Dezel was still standing awkwardly a few feet from the water's edge. “Hey, aren't you going to take a bath, too?”

“Yeah,” he said after a moment, tone heavy with uncertainty again. “I'll just wait until you're done.”

“Pfft, whatever for? Dezel, we just had sex last night! It's not like you being around me naked is something new, anymore. Now get your pants off and get in here!”

“Mn.”

Despite still sounding unsure, Dezel shed what clothing he had on and left it alongside Rose's nightgown on a nearby rock before wading down into the water. Rose watched him with hungry eyes, almost surprised by her own want so soon after getting to ride him the night before. It was nice to see him disrobed in the morning sunlight, however, and have the chance to better appreciate how his abdominal muscles rippled underneath his dark skin. Still, Rose resisted the urge to get _too_ close to him right off the bat, allowing him to adjust to the water's temperature and get his face rinsed off before playfully splashing a little water in his direction.

“Hey!” Dezel growled before raising a paw to splash her back. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Just keeping things interesting!”

Getting her hands under the surface again, Rose shoved a wave of water at Dezel and managed to get him in the face. She laughed as he sputtered indignantly, his hair sopping wet, then tried to get out of the way as he retaliated. Back and forth they went, hurling water at each other with Rose cackling excitedly, all too pleased with herself for getting her big, bad hellion companion to play with her. About the point at which Dezel attempted to grab her, however, she slipped out of reach and managed to outmaneuver him. His wings dragged through the water, making it difficult for him to keep pace with his smaller human companion, at least not without a lot of splashing and flailing about, anyway. They also provided enough cover for Rose to avoid his paws, allowing her to make her way behind him and jump up onto his back.

“Why, you little trouble–!” Dezel ground out, but his growls died into a moan as Rose kissed and nibbled at one of his ears. “R-Rose, what are you doing...?”

“Getting in an appetizer before breakfast,” she half-purred in his ear. “Or do you want me to stop?”

“You should probably stop, but...”

“You don't want me to, do you?”

“Hngh, no...”

Rose giggled quietly and ran a fingertip along the edge of his damp ear, then leaned in and kissed him repeatedly on the back of the neck, just along the thin ridge of greenish mane that extended down from his hairline. Dezel moaned again and swished his tail about through the water, paws eager for something to touch or hold, but lacking anything merely sought out some nearby half-submerged rocks.

“You big, grumpy beast,” Rose teased quietly. “I know how to soothe you! Why don't you let me rinse your hair out?”

There was a slight nod from Dezel in response. Rose grinned and got off his back, moving through the water to retrieve the wooden bucket they left up on shore for such tasks. Once she had it in hand, she splashed back to the waiting hellion, who had crouched down in the water so  
that his mouth and nose were barely above the surface. He already looked like a giant soggy dog with horns, causing Rose to laugh a little before she dipped the bucket into the water and dumped its contents over Dezel's head. She repeated the process a few times before letting the bucket float open-end-up nearby the water so she could run her fingers back through Dezel's hair, repeating the process over and over again, using her fingers to scrub at his scalp with pauses in between to apply another bucketful or two of water. 

Dezel purred under her ministrations, the deep sound just barely audible over the bubbling of the spring and the water running down around them. Rose couldn't help but smile as she worked, gently running her hands over his horns and down over his ears as her fingers slid free from his hair on each pass. When she finished, she brushed his bangs away from his face and placed a soft kiss against his forehead, a gesture of affection Dezel returned by kissing one side of her jaw.

“Did you like that?” Rose asked, full well knowing the answer but unable to keep from inquiring regardless. She kissed his cheek, savoring the rumbling hum that emanated from her lover in response. “Seemed like you did...”

“You're going to spoil me,” came the quiet reply, his paws coming to rest on her waist beneath the water. “Not that I'm complaining.”

“Mm, you'd better not be...”

“I'll let my actions speak for me, then.”

He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. Rose tilted her head a little and kissed him back, fingers tangling in his hair to initiate a slow, wonderfully tender series of kisses. Beautiful little points of contact that couldn't be lessened by the cold water or their wet skin, not when Dezel tugged Rose closer and braced her in his arms, encouraging her to get her legs around his middle.

“This is going to get me riled up again,” Dezel growled between kisses, his warning sounding like more of an invitation to Rose than anything else.

“You say that like it's a bad thing.”

“Depends on you.”

She nipped his lower lip in response to get his mouth open. Dezel complied and allowed her access, rolling his tongue against hers before letting her suck on it, his deep, muffled groans of appreciation causing a tingling sensation in Rose's lower half.

“If you mean 'depends on me' as to whether I'm too sore for more,” she said breathlessly when they finally parted for a moment, “Then it's definitely not. I'm not going to turn down a morning round with you just because I'm a little achy in a few places.”

“If you're sure...”

Dezel hefted her up, rising up out of the water to his full height. Keeping Rose in his arms, he moved a few steps to where the water only sloshed up around him mid-thigh. Rose, in the meantime, busied herself with kissing his jaw and cheeks, then reclaimed his mouth once he stopped moving. She sucked on his lower lip and ran her tongue over his teeth, allowing it to catch briefly and leaving him a small taste of blood that made his rumbling increase in volume a notch. Then he was lifting her higher and licking roughly at one breast before taking the nipple into his mouth, sucking hungrily. Rose hugged his head to her with one arm, her free hand stroking the side of his jaw to encourage him. She'd already decided that nothing felt quite as good on her skin as his greedy, hot mouth. 

“Guess you're the one who's getting the real appetizer, here,” Rose half moaned as he switched to lapping at her chest. “Mm, where do you want to be, Dezel?”

There was a pause in the outpouring of affection, Dezel's cheeks reddening somewhat before he pressed a kiss to the center of her chest. When he spoke, his voice was a little lower, tone a little shy. “...I think you know, already, Rose.”

She couldn't help but grin. “I do, but maybe I want to hear you say it.”

“Why...?”

“Because a little dirty talk is hot once in a while.” She ran the fingers of one hand back through his hair, causing him to rumble again. “Besides, I like the thought of you telling me what you want and how you feel in that deep, rumbly voice of yours.” She tipped her head down a little, directing a sultry whisper toward one of his ears. “I'd like you to make me dripping wet without the help of a little water.”

“O-oh...” 

Rose couldn't help but giggle softly in fond amusement as Dezel blushed deeply and pressed his face against her neck. She'd half expected him to become flustered enough to argue but instead, it seemed as though he was actually considering it. Not that she would have ever forced him to make those admissions.

“You don't have to if you really don't want to,” she assured him softly, one finger tracing the curve of one of his horns. “Or if it'll help, I'll tell you what I want and like, first.”

Dezel nodded once, though he didn't take his face from her neck. 

“I like it when you use your teeth a little on me,” Rose began with a small smirk. “I like the heat they bring and how you lick the marks you leave behind with that long, warm tongue of yours. It reminds me that you could eat me up if you wanted, that you're tempted to do that sometimes, but that even your hellion instincts can't override what you feel. Anyway, having a big, hungry, greedy hellion for a lover is a major turn on, as is. Especially one who could take whatever he wants if he felt like it, yet melts into a puddle with a few well-placed kisses.”

There was a grunt from Dezel in response, his grip on her tightening a fraction out of what Rose figured was embarrassment combined with a case of bashful nervousness.

“I thought you said you going first was supposed to help,” he grumbled, and Rose couldn't help but snicker.

“Am I wrong, though? About that last part?”

Another grunt. His ears trembled.

“It's so cute, though.” Finally easing him back a few inches, Rose pressed a kiss to his forehead. When she received a soft hum in response, she offered him another. “So bashful for a so-called monster.”

“It just...it feels nice,” Dezel managed after a moment, though he kept his blind gaze cast down, the air around them shifting with both his desire for more affection and the probable butterflies in his middle. “Your lips are so soft and your mouth is so warm. I...like it when you bite me a little, too. Parts of me can't feel like they used to and that sharper sensation... It sets my nerves on fire. In a good way.”

Rose tipped his head up and kissed his cheek, then the corner of his mouth. “Like that? What else do you like?”

“When you lay on me. When I can feel your warm weight on my chest and stomach. When I can feel you pressed tightly against me, unafraid...”

“Mm, nice to know,” she whispered, making sure he could feel her breath against his mouth. She kissed him just on his lower lip, careful to make sure that any efforts of his to kiss back were unsuccessful for the moment. He whined softly and she traced the edge of his jaw with one finger. “Something tells me you like feeling me pressed to you in other ways, too...”

“Your breasts against my back...or my chest... And the way you moan when I take you into my mouth.” He licked his lips, clearly wanting. “The way you let me savor your taste, letting me suck and nibble. The way you tugged at my horns and rubbed your fingertips against my scalp when I licked you until you came...”

Rose hummed in approval, struggling not to let it come out as a groan at the thought of his tongue pressed to her clit again. She offered him a brief, gentle kiss, breathing out her next question against his parted lips. “And where do you want to be right now, Dezel?”

“Inside you.” It was a soft growl of need. One Rose couldn't help but reward with a longer, more desperate kiss. Dezel hugged her closer, not allowing her to pull back as quickly and she gladly indulged him, granting him deeper kisses with parted lips, teasing at his tongue with her own where it pressed forward in need. “I want to be as deep inside you as I can get! I want to rub you and please you until your nails dig into me! I want to hear you gasp as you come and feel you tighten around me, desperate to hold me in place until I finish unloading inside you!”

There it was – the dirty confessions Rose had been hoping for. She ground herself up against him as she was able, one hand on his armored shoulder to brace herself while her other pressed to the back of his neck, inviting him to kiss her until they were near out of breath.

“Now, Rose, _please!_” he begged as they parted briefly, his teeth grazing her lips. “Let me stretch you open again and fill you up!”

She didn't answer right away, instead choosing to tease him a little more, kissing him again and urging him to get his tongue into her mouth where she could suck on it. The effect was immediate, Dezel groaning shamelessly, his wings shaking and tensing while his hips rocked below her. She could imagine how hard he'd become and the thought of him oozing precum in anticipation was almost enough to make her push herself down to try to take him in on her own. But the only logical conclusion to all her teasing was to make him wait until she let him in.

“Rose...” He was begging, voice cracking as she held him fast and kissed him again. “_Rose! I want you!_”

One last kiss. She pressed her cheek to his to whisper against his ear. “And I want you, too. So fuck me already.”

Dezel's eyes rolled back in relief, his lids slipping shut before his brow furrowed in concentration as he lowered her...and plunged himself into her. 

Rose gasped as he stuffed himself inside her, immediately overtaken by the white-hot heat of his thick, pulsing length. She gripped his shoulders as he began to fuck her, thrusting himself into her over and over again while suspending her above the stream's surface. Both his strength and need were amazing, to be able to hold her in place while he pleasured them both, his initial growls turning to breathy moans as he stroked his ribbed cock against her walls.

No human would ever be able to satisfy her like this again, she was sure. She gripped him as best she could with her legs, encircling him and feeling her feet rub against the sides of his tail in back. The cold of the morning air and the chill of the spring water on her skin vanished under the haze of wonderful heat Dezel provided as he picked up the pace. Faster, harder... She squeezed him where she could, encouraging him, her eyes closed as her hips rocked with his thrusts. Pleasure coursed through her, causing her to shut her eyes tightly, mouth half-open...

“Lords... _Rose!_”

She hugged herself to him and angled her hips down, forcing himself to stay deep inside her. He whined, grip on her tightening. He was so close. She could feel his swollen shaft throbbing inside her. Taking one hand from his shoulder, she reached between them and rubbed at her exposed clit. The little bit of additional stimulation was all she needed and a moment later she was coming with a groan, body tensing and walls squeezing hard against Dezel's length. He panted, desperate, and her fingers slipped down to rub him around the base of his cock as she repeatedly tightened around him.

“I'm not letting you pull back again until you come, Dezel!”

His breath caught. His hips jerked and ground against her. 

“Squeeze me!” he begged. “More... More, _please!_”

The pleading cries were almost enough to make Rose come a second time. Absolute music to her ears. She locked up around him despite her own orgasm-related exhaustion and rubbed harder about the base of his cock.

His breath caught. His hips jerked again. And fresh heat rushed into her, making her feel almost overfull as he unloaded with a relieved whine. Rose sighed in satisfaction and loosened her hold on him, allowing him to draw back minimally and thrust in again, burying himself deep inside her while he savored his own well-earned orgasm, tail snaking around from behind and looping around Rose and help hold her to him for a few more precious seconds.

Then he was slowly pulling out, though he did not relinquish his hold on her. Rather, Dezel hefted Rose back up and hugged her close, nuzzling her neck and kissing her tenderly beneath her jaw. Rose shivered in his arms and embraced him as best she was able, thoroughly enjoying how her hellion lover became so affectionate after a romp. Still, if the way he was continuing to kiss and nibble at her was any indication, he wasn't satisfied just yet. And while normally Rose would have the stamina for another go 'round herself, she was still sore from their lovemaking the night before...

“If you're too worn out for more, I'll put you down,” Dezel managed between hungry kisses. “I can always take care of my own needs.”

Rose hummed and considered the situation, one hand rubbing gently at the side of Dezel's neck while he continued to nibble at her. Perhaps more sex for her at the moment wouldn't be the best idea, but that didn't mean she couldn't help her still riled up companion deal with his needs before they finished washing up.

“Would you like it if I stayed with you while you dealt with said needs?” she asked and was pleased to see his ears flick up in interest.

“Is that really alright with you?”

“I think it'd be fun. And hot. Giving you a little extra attention while you rub yourself down.”

“Let me find somewhere to settle, then...”

Wading back to shore, Dezel stepped back up onto the grass and found a large, flat rock alongside the water's edge to sit down on. Leaning back against another, larger stone behind it, he allowed Rose to settle on his middle, one arm wrapped around her to support her. His free hand moved lower, seeking out his shaft.

“Take your time, Dezel, and in the meantime, I'll keep your mouth busy,” Rose promised with a smile as she set her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up further, presenting him with easy access to her chest. “Tough job to have, I know, but I think I'll manage.”

Though his cheeks were flushed a soft pink over the situation, Dezel managed a quiet chuckle regardless. Then he was eagerly taking her in, sucking at her perked nipple and supple skin with a throaty, pleased growl. Rose sighed in contentment, resting her chin against the top of his head while her fingers trailed down the edges of his ears. Off to one side, she could see the minimal movement of his upper arm as he worked his paw and fingerpads against his cock, tugging and rubbing while happily partaking of his lover's taste. The tug of his mouth was more gentle than usual, but he seemed to be more interested just then in savoring her, pausing here and there to roll his tongue over and around the nipple.

“You're such a good companion and a fun playmate,” Rose murmured as she massaged the tips of his ears with her thumbs and forefingers. “It makes me so happy that we've found each other again, even if the circumstances to get this far were painful...”

Dezel rumbled and moaned softly in acknowledgment, taking a moment to press a single kiss to the center of Rose's chest before switching sides. He licked at her breast, carefully teasing the soft nub at the tip until it hardened to where he could easily suck it into his eager mouth. Rose groaned and wriggled atop him a little, a returning sense of growing need evident in her own loins, but she ignored it for the moment. There would be more time in the evening and the following more for them to play after she'd had some time to recover.

“Mmm, good boy,” Rose breathed, fingertips trailing from Dezel's ears down the sides of his neck. “Bet you're nice and rigid again, aren't you? Thick and throbbing and aching to come again. I can feel you rocking your hips a little and working yourself a little quicker. Even if you're not inside me, I still want you to come good and hard...”

Dezel moaned against her chest and let her slip from his mouth, licking his lips before easing himself even further back and down. Rose brushed his damp hair from his face and kissed his forehead and cheeks. His silver gaze turned toward her and she couldn't help but notice the deep longing and admiration in their depths. Experiencing this kind of pleasure left him so vulnerable and Rose adored that about him.

“I love watching the expressions you make when you're pleased,” Rose went on softly, teasing him with little touches here and there to his face, allowing him to kiss her palms and nibble carefully on her fingers while he worked himself ever closer to the edge. “You have such beautiful, wild eyes and a smile that makes me want to kiss that mouth of yours over and over again.”

He whined and shifted beneath her, clearly close. He was stroking himself more quickly now, his other arm embracing her more tightly. Rose nipped at his jaw, drawing needy whimper out of him.

“_Rose_...”

“Come for me, Dezel. I want to feel you tense under me, all your muscles bunching underneath your warm skin. I want to feel your strength swell and then ebb away under a hard, hot release...”

Dezel gasped and panted, eyes closing tightly. He was tugging hard at his cock; Rose could feel it in the way he jolted underneath her, abdominal muscles tensing as tilted his hips up, aching to unload. Leaning in, she kissed his lower lip and then pressed her mouth to his. Dezel kissed her back, the sounds echoing out of him pleading...

_Don't stop... Please don't stop!_

Rose smiled against his mouth and kissed him harder, teasing and pleasing him through parted lips in every way she could until his whimpers turned to a deep, guttural, growling groan of relief. When she finally pulled back, he strained underneath her, still momentarily lost in the pleasure of his orgasm, mouth half-open as he drew in some much-needed air. Rose smiled and hugged him, pressing kiss after kiss against his damp skin until he began to settle again, rewarding him for once again for revealing his softer side.

“You're too good to me,” he breathed as he nuzzled against her jaw and neck. “Promise me I can spoil you later.”

“As if I'd say 'no' to that!” Rose laughed as she gripped his horns and gave his head a gentle, but affectionate shake. “But if you'd like to spoil me now, you can always help me finish washing up.”

He pressed a kiss to her jaw. “Mmn, I can definitely do that.”

So back into the water they went, letting the slow current of the flowing water cleanse them as it flowed downstream, Dezel taking the time to carefully wash Rose's hair the way she had washed his, using his fingerpads to scrub her scalp while being mindful of his claws. When they finally finished and climbed back up on dry land again, Dezel summoning a warm breeze to dry them off before they pulled their clothes back on, Rose couldn't help but grin at a related thought that danced through her mind, teasing future possibilities.

“You know what I want to do once I become a Shepherd and turn you back into a seraph?” she asked as she pulled on her nightgown and caused Dezel to glance her way with a raised eyebrow. “I want to go to a bathhouse. Or a hot spring. Somewhere we can spend some time soaking together in some hot water.”

Dezel blinked. “Aren't those things usually separated by gender?”

“Yeah, but in a private setting and especially with no one except me able to see you, who would even know?”

“Tch, you're such a troublemaker. And one without much shame, either.”

Rose's grin broadened as she poked him lightly in the stomach. “You say that like you wouldn't enjoy it, too!”

He blushed and finished pulling his belts on. “It'd probably be expensive, having a bath supposedly to yourself...”

“It'd be worth it.”

Dezel nodded a little, though he didn't seem to share in Rose's enthusiasm for the idea. Deciding that it was probably just her lover being bashful again, Rose took one of his large hands in hers and tugged him in the direction of the temple back entrance. It was already late in the morning and they hadn't eaten, yet, let alone gotten to the task of washing their blankets. Grunting quietly in acknowledgment, Dezel allowed Rose to pull him along so they could get on with their planned daily activities and chores.

* * *

The task of cleaning all the blankets and other cloth materials that made up their shared nest bed was not a particularly fun one, though it was made somewhat easier by Dezel's ability to command the wind. After scrubbing and rinsing each blanket the best they could in the stream, they hung the blankets out to dry across lengths of rope tied between nearby trees. Dezel buffered them with warm winds after, speeding up the drying process and making it possible to take them all back inside before late afternoon rolled around. Then, while Rose took care of remaking the nest, tidying up and setting up the cooking fire for the evening, Dezel went out to hunt. When he returned, he had a pair of large pheasants with him, which they shared in the duty of plucking out all the feathers. It was a tedious task, one that required a degree of patience, and Rose found herself going a bit too quickly here and there, only to have the fluffy end of Dezel's tail whiff the back of her head to remind her to slow down. It might have been an annoying reprimand, except that the soft fur tickled the back of her neck.

Once the de-feathered birds were roasting over the fire, Rose settled down in Dezel's lap with a book to read to him by firelight. She chose the legend of the Shepherd, even though she'd read it several times by herself and at least twice to Dezel on other evenings. It seemed appropriate, though, given they weren't going to be remaining in the ruins much longer. For his part, Dezel sat quietly without interrupting, his arms loosely around Rose. Once in a while, he would kiss the top of her head, breath warm against her scalp and she would pause to pat his leg or his arm in return.

When dinner had concluded and clean up had been taken care of, Rose attempted to lure Dezel into their shared quarters, shamelessly interested in more playtime before bedtime. Dezel seemed too distracted by something to follow along, however. He sat beneath the back entrance, crouched down with his blind gaze cast toward the wooden hatch overhead and the dim beams of moonlight filtering in through the cracks.

“Something wrong?” Rose asked as she brushed a hand over his bare back, still hoping to draw his attention her way. “I thought by now you'd be ready to make good on that spoiling you promised this morning.”

Dezel made a low sound at the back of his throat, something with too ambiguous of a meaning for Rose to nail down. Before she could ask him what was going on again, however, he finally spoke up without glancing her way. “There's...something I want to show you. I think.”

“Now?” Rose tilted her head in confusion. “It's so late, though! I wouldn't be able to see much without a torch.”

He shook his head once. “You wouldn't need one. The moonlight would be enough. At least where we'd be going.”

“'Going'? How far away is this place? Can't it wait until morning?”

“It could, but...”

“But...?”

“I remember it being prettier on a clear night.”

Curiosity finally getting the better of her, Rose folded her arms across her chest and leaned suggestively against her companion's side. “Oho, so you want to take me somewhere romantic before we screw? I have to admit it's kind of fun finding out my monster boyfriend has such a soft, sentimental side!”

Dezel grunted, face flushing in the dim light. “It's not romantic! I mean, it could be, I suppose. If you want. It's just...something special. Something we can only do while we're still here.”

Rose took a moment to study her companion's expression, noting how flustered but determined he appeared. He kept his focus largely on the wooden hatch above them, the air currents stirring restlessly about them on and off. His tail twitched against the floor like that of an impatient feline. Whatever it was that Dezel wanted to show her, it was obviously something of importance to him and the last thing she wanted to do was shove that aside in favor of making him think all she wanted from him was more sex.

“Hey,” she said softly, finally getting him to glance her way. “Whatever it is you want to show me, I'm game to go check it out. It's important to you after all, isn't it?”

“In a way. I'd rather explain it after we get there,” he admitted quietly.

“Then let's go see it. We can come back inside after and cuddle up then since we'll probably be cold after being out in the night air for a bit.”

The small but pleased smile that appeared on Dezel's face was more than worth the trouble of going out, as was the way the end of his tail thumped against the stone floor a few times like that of a happy canine. Rose smiled back and offered him her hand, allowing him to sweep her up off her feet and into the crook of one arm before he scaled the wall to push the barrier aside and get them outside.

Dezel didn't stop to put Rose down once they left the temple interior behind, rather carrying her in the direction opposite the one they would take to reach the spring and stream. He loped along, focus on finding his way as he let the cool night air guide him toward the front entrance. Once there, he bade Rose shift onto his back, encouraging her to put her arms about his neck and wrap her legs around his waist. After coiling his tail once around her to help hold her in place, Dezel tucked his wings in against their sides and leaped upward to start scaling the side of the temple.

Rose ducked low against her companion's back as he climbed hand over foot, his claws and dexterous fingers and toes finding enough purchase in the cracks of the stonework to ascend at a steady pace. About halfway up, Rose dared to glance back and down. The sight of the ground slowly pulling away from them made her heart skip a beat and her stomach flip flop a bit at first, but the uncomfortable sensation soon passed as she shifted her gaze outward and over the forest.

By the time Dezel finally stopped, the moon was well into its climb against the velvet night sky and Rose found herself staring in awe at how easy it was to see the multitude of stars overhead. Even smaller towns such as Marlind and Lastonbell, the light from street lanterns, torches and windows was enough to take away from the deep echoes of darkness the night sky provided. But here, in the nearly untouched forest, the blue-black of the sky seemed especially endless. And especially beautiful for how much more brilliantly the countless stars shined through with thin but lovely hints of blue, purple and gold. The treetops of the forest lay below them, spread out like a dark, plush carpet that swayed gently in the night breeze. Hardly a sound reached them there at the top of the temple, the wind their only company as Dezel found a nook where he could sit and carefully take Rose into his lap.

“Dezel,” Rose breathed as she settled, feeling his chin coming to rest against her head, her gaze still focused on the star dappled sky, “This is...amazing. I don't think I've ever been so high up before. So close to the sky.”

“It's a clear night, isn't it?” he asked, voice as quiet as her own. “Can you see the stars easily?”

For the briefest of moments, Rose was ashamed to admit she'd forgotten Dezel was blind and could not see what she could. She placed a hand on one of his arms where it draped around her and nodded a little. “Yeah... There are so many. Like the entire sky just...fell open and all of them tumbled out everywhere. It's probably the clearest view I've ever had.”

Dezel hummed softly in approval. “It felt like a clear night. I'm glad that it is.”

“You said you recalled it being pretty on a clear night. When did you last come up here...?”

“It was a few years ago when I was a little younger than you. Our group stopped at the temple to camp overnight and Lafarga convinced me to come up here with him. Said the view would be something I'd never forget.”

“Guess he was right about that?”

“He was. I'm just sorry I can't see it anymore. Not in the way I could before.”

Rose sat quietly for a moment, the fingers of one hand rubbing gently at Dezel's arm in what she hoped was a comforting way. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to voice the question on her mind, but she found she couldn't quite hold it in. “So...how do you see it now? Does the wind tell you what it looks like...?”

“Yes...and no.” There was a pause as Dezel seemed to consider how to answer the question further. “I can sort of sense the lack of cloud cover in how the wind feels and blows. I can sense the trees below and immediately around the temple, how their leaves sway in the night air. Even the...openness of the sky. But not much else. The space above us feels like a...like a gaping canyon with no bottom. I know instinctively that the stars are there, but I can't sense them. Their light isn't mine to witness any longer.”

Rose's throat felt tight suddenly. She leaned back against Dezel and curled one arm around his, gazing out at the divide between land and sky. “I'm sorry. Coming up here again and knowing you couldn't see the stars was probably difficult. Especially since the last time you were here, it was with Lafarga.”

“It can't be helped. And I wanted you to see this before we left the temple. To have this memory.”

“We'll come back here someday, alright? After I become a Shepherd and you're a seraph, again. Then we can have another memory made together when things are better.”

Together, they sat on the stone ledge a little longer, Rose watching as the moon climbed higher into the sky. In the far distance, she could make out the rising walls of Glaivend Basin, which would be part of their journey toward Ladylake. It would be a difficult trip to undertake with just the two of them, even with Dezel as a hellion, but Rose was certain they could manage it. They _had_ to, for both their sakes but for Dezel's most of all. Rose wasn't about to let anything else, least of all a second chance, be taken from her friend and lover. 

The climb back to the ground was thankfully uneventful, save for Dezel's grumblings over Rose's suggestion that they glide the last half of the way down. The trees and other foliage were too close to the temple, he warned. It was likely between that and his lack of sight that they would end up crashing and injuring themselves. Nevertheless, Rose couldn't help but make him chase her to the back entrance, tugging playfully on his tail and making him romp after her on all fours while she laughed and ran through the grass and brush. Somehow, she managed to stay mostly ahead of him until they reached their shared quarters, though she had no doubt her ability to keep the lead was due in part to Dezel's insistence on pausing to close the barrier behind them before catching up.

Rose threw herself into the nest bed a moment before Dezel arrived behind her, the hellion pouncing on her with an anticipatory growl and kissing her hungrily. She moaned against his mouth, then jolted and tilted her hips up as she felt the press of his paw pads against her pants between her legs. Breaking the kiss, he pushed her tunic up and pressed his lips again and again against her collarbones and chest, tasting and nibbling while he continued to use his fingers to rub at her. Rose's own hands felt for the waistline of her pants, eager to get them open.

“Rose...” Dezel's voice was little more than a seductive purr that sent a shiver up her spine. His tongue rasped over one nipple, the wet caress followed by a gentle stirring of the air causing it to perk almost painfully. “Don't ever be sorry that I can't see the light of the stars or even the flame of our lantern. I don't need them...”

“I know you don't, it's just–“

“Just nothing.” He licked at her again, then kissed the center of her chest. “I have _you._ I need no other guiding light.”

“Dezel...”

Any other words she thought to use were lost after that as Dezel kissed his way down past her belly and tugged her pants off. Rose gripped his horns, tears running down the sides of her face as he lavished attention on her with his lips and tongue. She cried in silence, save for a few gasps and moans until she tipped over the edge. Her tears continued as Dezel pressed himself into her, Rose begging him not to stop despite her emotional state. She pulled him down, wanting to feel his weight against her, and bit at his chest as he stroked them both into a near leg numbing orgasm. 

When it was over, Rose curled up against Dezel, shivering from the exertion, both physical and emotional. He wrapped her up in a blanket and draped an arm around her, only to be rewarded with a light headbutt up against the underside of his chin.

“You sappy bastard,” she sniffed. “No fair saying something like that right before we screw.”

Dezel hummed softly and kissed her forehead. “Did you really mind it that much?”

Rose huffed, the sound almost something of a half-laugh as she reached up with one hand to play gently with his near ear, her thumb rubbing over the fine velvet fur. “No. But now you owe me another round where you don't make me cry all the way through!”

He chuckled, the sound deep and gentle. “You say that like I'd need to be talked into it.”

“Well, I'm just saying. Now, how about you kiss me before we pass out?”

“Huh, so demanding.”

Once Rose had been granted a goodnight kiss, Dezel snuggled further into the blankets and curled up with her, head resting against hers. Finally feeling cozy and settled, Rose let herself relax enough to start drifting off to sleep, the jumble of emotions in her chest dispelling almost completely to leave behind a pleasant, soothing warmth.


End file.
